Le Top Takes: Out of the Mouths of Babes!

No, I did not say that!

When she announced to her children that she was pregnant, her daughter said,

Mommy, I’m going to happy cry!

–Katie, age 6

Editor’s Note:
Please spread the giggles by sharing your funny quotes with us!

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Halloween-Themed Baby Shower

"My costume roars, what does yours do?"

I can’t believe it’s been six months since my brother and his wife announced their pregnancy. Since they are expecting their little “treat” to arrive on Halloween, I couldn’t resist but do a Halloween-themed baby shower. Everything had pumpkins!

• invitations
• games (a monster match game, pumpkin trivia, pass the pumpkin)
• prizes (pumpkin-shaped chocolates, pumpkin-scented soaps)
• giveaways (pumpkin candles)
• The Diaper Cake
• dessert (a delicious homemade pumpkin cake)

And the best part of all… the kids dressed in costume to welcome the arrival of their new cousin! Of course, my son was wearing one of le•top’s 2009 Halloween costumes. He was dressed as “Troy” the Triceratops, which he loved to wear because it kept him warm all day (now that fall has arrived in California!) and had a hidden button that everyone pushed to make his costume “ROAR!” I thought it was going to scare him when he first heard the sound, but he didn’t seem to even notice. I guess Mommy always sounds like an angry dinosaur. 🙂

Check back daily to see more Halloween ideas from le•top’s 2009 collection.

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Reformed Vampire to be a Father…Again

source: celebritybabyscoop.com

TC’s favorite Sci-Fi star David Boreanaz (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel – and currently starring on Bones) and his wife Jaime Bergman are expecting their second child in September. Their first child, son Jaden Rayne, is now 7.

Their happy announcement was revealed as an apology to fans, disappointed at his absence from the Comic-Con event last week that was scheduled to promote Bones. “I’m a little bit stuck in Los Angeles due to the fact that my wife is on her 34th week [of pregnancy with] our second child.” explains David in his video. “And I’d like you to know that it’s going to be a girl.”

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le•top Takes: Out of the Mouths of Babes!

No, I did NOT say that!

…submitted by a le•top blog reader

My husband and I are “trying” again, so we can give our 4 year old daughter, Siena, a sibling. I give answers that are more scientific in nature than the fairy-tale kind because Siena is seriously unsatisfied with my answers unless they’re very systematic and every facet of her question is explained (yes, of course I think she’s a genius) 😉 ! When she asked me (yet again!) how babies are made, I explained by saying that daddy puts something in mommy and plants his seed so the baby can grow. My daughter then started yelling:

I want to see Daddy’s seed!! I want to see Daddy’s seed!!”

Startled, I said calmly, “Sweetheart, you can’t see Daddy’s seed”, and Siena got SO UPSET!! I could hardly control myself from bursting out in laughter in front her, as I thought, geez, wait until I tell everyone at work about this one!

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Pregnancy: How Much Weight Did You Gain?

I was reading a blog entry about Maya Rudolph gaining 70 pounds with her first pregnancy. And I’m thinking, “OMG! That’s a lot of weight.” But I don’t think it’s completely out of the ordinary. A lot of my mommy friends gained around 50 pounds, and some up to 100 pounds. And these women are small and petite.

When I was pregnant (both times), my doctor suggested that I gain no more than 25 pounds. The first time around, I said, “Sure, no problem.” But as the pregnancy progressed, my total weight gain was around 35-40 pounds. It wasn’t like I pigged out on everything, nor was I “eating for two.” But I definitely couldn’t control my weight gain. With my second pregnancy (since I had gestational diabetes), I was put on a low-carb, no sugar diet, and I followed this diet to a T for the health and well-being of my unborn child. Trust me. It was HARD not to give in to my cravings. Yet, I still gained about 30 pounds. My point is, whether I followed a nutritional diet or not, I still gained over the recommended 25 pounds.

Just out of curiosity, how much weight did you gain?

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Sharing Your Pregnancy News

When I was pregnant with my first child, my husband and I decided to let our families know on Thanksgiving Day. We gave our parents wrapped presents with “I love my Grandma” and “I love my Grandpa” bibs and let them figure it out. It took about half a second since they’ve been asking when we were going to give them grandchildren. (The pressure!)

The next time we were pregnant, we wanted to be more creative. My dad’s birthday was coming up and my mom had planned for the entire family to have brunch aboard one of the San Francisco’s tour trains. So instead of yelling our announcement over the railroad tracks, my husband and I decided to be more sly. I made a special t-shirt for our daughter to wear that said, “I’m going to be a BIG sister!” and see how long it would take for the family to read it. The perfect opportunity presented itself when the train photographer came by and asked the family if we wanted a picture. So while the grandparents and grandchildren were getting situated, I asked Miranda to take her sweater off. Sadly, no one took notice. Then the photographer said, “Oh, what a cute shirt!” Finally, my mom noticed. Everyone was screaming and yelling, and asking if it was true. It was hilarious!

Since creativity runs in the family, my brother and sister-in-law gave us their special announcement by telling us they were going to be in a Dr. Pepper commercial. So as the family gathered around the giant plasma screen over Easter to watch their TV debut, this is what we saw. We were all confused because we didn’t see any Dr. Pepper in the video. The last image took a second or two to sink in. And once it did, the video became an unforgettable announcement, mixed with tears of joy and peals of laughter. Classic!

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Jamee Reports: It’s a Boy!

Happy Birthday, Paulo Antonio!

le•top welcomes Jamee’s newborn into the world…Happy Birthday! We had a little fun trying to guess when this little sugar policeman was going to make his world debut, so here are the actual stats on Paulo Antonio‘s birth:

Monday, March 30th
9:28AM
7.9lbs
21 inches

One person got the date right (Kristin), and seven (of 15 guesses) correctly guessed the gender. Matt came closest to guessing the weight (his guess: 7.8), and one person (Jen) came within 28 minutes of the time of birth (her guess: 9AM).

Since no one guessed correctly on more than one birth stat, we’ll have to wait until someone else who’s having a baby wants to have a guessing game with us to give away any prizes (yes, of course this was a secret contest!).

Meanwhile, we congratulate Jamee (very tired, but very happy), her husband and new big sister, Miranda! And, a big ‘Happy Birthday’, Paulo Antonio!

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Yummy Mummy

Should I go straight or curly?

Usually, when I get up in the morning, I pull my hair back and wrap a rubber band around it and start the day. I have so much hair (thick and lots of it!) that styling my hair is a time-consuming affair. With a hectic morning routine of getting my daughter out of bed, dressing her, feeding her breakfast, then driving her to preschool, I rarely have time to get myself dolled up. So it boils down to, if I’m going somewhere special, have a client meeting, or getting together with some friends, I would make the effort to fix my hair so I look “decent.”

Every morning last week I woke up extra early and styled my hair, which prompted this conversation:

Husband: “Where are you going today?”

Me: “Nowhere. I just want to look good in case we have to go to the hospital and give birth today.”

Husband (rolling his eyes): “Oh, brother!”

Me: “Hey, the first time one goes through labor and delivery it’s excusable to be unprepared. The new mom can look like a train wreck. The next time, she needs to know better. I need to look fabulous!”

So on top of the hair stylin’, I’ve had a pedicure so that I have cute piggies while my legs are in the stirrups (I’m gonna be looking at them a long time!), and I’ve had my wax appointment so that I have soft, smooth legs. I’ve got to be a “Yummy Mummy” this time around – and taking nesting to completely new heights! 🙂

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“Is the baby here yet?”

You go on a road trip with a little one, and you will hear these infamous words, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” over and over, to the point that you yourself want to be there as soon as humanly possible because it’s so annoying to hear that question when you still have 3 more hours to go. This time, the words I hear are,

Is the baby here yet? Is the baby ready to come out?“

Now, that’s not annoying at all to hear. In fact, they’re my sentiments exactly! I wake up each morning, wondering if today is the day. We are all so anxious here at home, especially my daughter. At this point, I don’t think she cares anymore if she’s having a brother or a sister (she really wants a sister!). She just wants to meet her new sibling and be a BIG sister.

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Acupuncture: Labor Induction

As I approach my due date, I have become more and more anxious to start labor and meet my new baby (and, get my old body back – oh, how I miss laying on my stomach!) I have heard lots of ways to start labor, such as:

• eating spicy foods
• getting a foot massage
• getting a pedicure
• taking long walks
• having sex

But one I haven’t heard much about is acupuncture to induce labor.

A friend of mine (from Santa Cruz, CA) swears by it! Her labor with her first child was so painful and long: four hours of hard labor with back-to-back contractions, and two hours of pushing! When she became pregnant with her second child, she had to find a way to make her labor easier. Alas… she discovered acupuncture. She scheduled an appointment with a local acupuncturist a couple of days before her induction date. (She needed to be induced because of preeclampsia.) The first needle that was inserted into her body instantly started her labor! Her labor was shorter, her contractions were more manageable, and she only pushed for 23 minutes!

With a story like that, how can I not consider acupuncture! I wish I could see her acupuncturist in Santa Cruz, but it’s just too far from my hospital. I’d probably end up having my baby on the freeway! So now I start my search for an acupuncturist. Wish me luck!

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