Be Our Guest

I'll go out on a limb here and declare that I grew up during the era of the Greatest Disney Movies Ever. Between The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King - several years of my childhood were earmarked with the anticipation of a new Disney movie release. I memorized scripts to each one, word for word, and belted out the famous musical scores with the gusto of a starving actress auditioning for Broadway.

So in addition to Barbies, Power Wheels and Easy Bake Ovens, these Disney classics were one of the things I vowed my kids would experience and enjoy. And as if Walt Disney himself knew of my plans, the "Disney Vault" (one of the greatest marketing ploys ever) released Beauty and The Beast on DVD right around Lindsey's birthday. Gift - done.

Pause this entry for a little Bachman children trivia. Based on the following two photos, which Bachman child is more like his/her mother and which is more like his/her father. Hint: pay close attention to facial expressions. Someone seems awfully excited about said Disney movie and someone seems intent on harnessing the power of the tongue. Just sayin.

Back to where we were: To coincide with said gift, and to indulge my desire for a birthday "theme," we played off of one of the somewhat under-appreciated characters from that movie: the one and only, Mrs. Potts. A tea-party themed event was born.

Lindsey's party was so much fun. I made a teapot shaped cake and pot and teacup shaped cookies (please, hold the applause). We had a "signature tea" (pomegranate raspberry Lipton tea mix). There were balloons, lace tablecloths and doilies. And, most importantly, a house full of friends and family who were so excited to celebrate our little princess.

Lindsey got a ton of cool gifts - lots of arts and crafts supplies, adorable outfits, toys and the pièce de résistance...her first set of wheels!

Though the birthday girl was a little cranky (she refused to wear her party outfit, blow out candles or do literally anything I asked her to do), she certainly enjoyed the love and attention.

What's in a name?

When we found out we were pregnant with baby number two, there was a lot to consider. Chief among them was this child's name. We had come to a boy and girl name rather easily and painlessly when I was pregnant with Ryan. If he had been a girl, he would have been Megan Elizabeth.

And though we had a boy name ready for this round, the girl name was a little trickier. We didn't want to just go with a leftover girl name from before. Even though we thought the name was beautiful, it wasn't as special. Baby number two, if a girl, needed a new name that would be all her own.

We (I) read every baby name book and list we could find. I stalked my facebook friends, friends to see if I liked any of their names. I strengthened the memory muscles in my brains, going back to high school, middle school trying to think of girls I liked in school (and of girls I didn't like) to get some inspiration that way. I read the credits at the end of movies and shows. I was obsessed.

We finally came up with a few names we liked and just needed to narrow them down to a winner. The top three names were: Megan (we couldn't help ourselves), Katelyn and Emily. Katelyn was quickly removed and we were staring at Megan and Emily. We finally just put the names in a hat (literally) and went with the name that was picked. Emily it was.

Everyone was thrilled with the name and was excited we had made a decision. Except me.

You know when you buy a new car and suddenly realize the whole world is also driving that same car? The minute we picked Emily it was as if every child I met was named Emily. There were three Emily's at the daycare, I was meeting Emily's at work. It was Emily overload and I didn't like it.

I didn't want my kid to have a weird name like Apple or Zuma. We like traditional, "normal" names. But I also didn't want my kid to go through life as Emily B. because there was also an Emily F., Emily S., and Emily C. in her class. So back to the drawing board I went. I looked up lists of names and started at number 100 on the list, to help weed out possible duplication. Finally, in a list from the mid-90's, somewhere around #364 on the list, I found Lindsey.

And though we love her name and think it suits her well, like any other child, she's adopted various nicknames along the way. All of which are iterations of previous nicknames. It started with Lindsey Lou. Then it was Lou Lou. Finally, it was shortened to Lou.

Some people kindly try to feminize it by typing it as Lu, but I think the masculine spelling of Lou suits her just as well. Because even though she is as girly as they come - she loves hair ties, dress up clothes, princess shoes, purses and baby dolls - our girl can evoke the very essence of a guy named Lou. She can be loud, irrational, grumpy and self-centered. For the record, I think we all have a little Lou in us.

But no matter what we call her, our little girl is amazing. She's smart and beautiful. She completes our family and has a sly little smile that melts our hearts. And today? Today she's two.

Happy Birthday, Lindsey Lou!

Ryan's first "all nighter"

When I was in college, I relished the ability to pull "all nighters." I felt like it was just something you did when you were in college. Plus, it worked well with my tendency to procrastinate and my ability to work well under pressure. I'd wait until the night before, say, an eight page paper on discontinuities was due...drink lots of coffee and park myself in front of the computer, with Friends re-runs playing (low volume) in the background.

And though it will be quite some time until Ryan is living in an off-campus apartment, with no insulation (or right angles) and a couple of roomates, he didn't have to wait very long to pull his first all nighter, courtesy of NYE 2012.

After spending the rest of the Christmas week up in PA with Grandma and Grandpa, the kids (and grandparents) came back home on NYE morning. We had a somewhat impromptu party and I told Ryan he could stay up this year (since trying to wake him at midnight last year didn't work out so well). I never, in a million years, thought he would actually stay awake until the ball dropped.

But with easy access to the party food and unending screen time on Grandma's iPad...Rye was in for the long haul.

His reward? Sparkling cider for our midnight toast and kisses from a bunch of lovely ladies who adore him to pieces.