Believe the Hype: See the Movie

A while back I was doing some shameless plugging for the then-forthcoming film The X-Files: I Want to Believe and promised to plug more later. I can now do so from the vantage point of having seen the movie, it having been released on Friday. So, you may wonder, was it really worth all the secrecy, the Carter-versus-studio battle, the wait? In a word, YES!

My favorite site for all things X, X-Files News, features a full review of the movie with which I concur, but I'll add just a few personal thoughts. The first of these is a prayer: oh, please God, may 39 look a fraction as good on me as it does on Gillian Anderson. Moving right along, the story can definitely stand on its own apart from the TV series and the 1998 film. It is not Chris Carter and company's strongest "monster of the week" story by any stretch, but it is sound. Carter FINALLY indulges those of us who call ourselves "'shippers," though after waiting 6 years I think he still owes us more than we were given in that arena. Mulder and Scully may no longer be G-people, but their fragrant blend of sarcastic, witty banter and brutal honesty is as strong as it was in the series' heyday.

Who should see this movie? If you ever watched the series, even casually, or saw the first film and loved it, you need to see this movie! If you love an old-fashioned thriller that does not need gore or gratuitous CGI to carry the story, see this movie. If you want to reminisce about the olden days of shadowy figures in dark suits and "little green men," see this movie. If you breathe oxygen and require water in order to live, you need to see this movie. 'Nuff said? Good, 'cause it is eons past my bedtime. More to come very soon. God bless.

Happy 10 Months, Caitrin!

It doesn't seem possible, but it's been 10 months today since our amazing little girl came into our lives! For the first several months I had these onesies that said her age on them, but we don't have a 10-month one, so instead I've included a picture from lunchtime today. She was feeding herself a cereal bar and was absolutely covered in it!

I was trying to remember what I was doing exactly ten months ago at this moment, but I have no idea! They gave me Stadol during labor, and there are large chunks of time that day that I can't account for. I think we were probably all snuggling in my bed and Sean and I were going over the day's events. What an amazing day it was.

Caitrin and I had a wonderful day today. I tried to give her more playtime, and she really enjoyed it. She has a new favorite word..."naynay." This is said, squealed, whined or shouted in various intonations and volume levels depending on her mood. I've pretty much discontinued changing her on the changing table. She flips around way too easily now. Luckily we put those foam number tiles on her floor months ago, so they make the perfect soft place to change her, and if she rolls it's no big deal.

The highlight of our day was a trip after lunch to the park at BWI Airport where the planes go right overhead just before they land. Having grown up in the country, I didn't have much exposure to big planes and they still fascinate me just like a kid! I took Caitrin because I've watched her notice the planes when they fly over our house and she's always been interested, never scared. Imagine my delight when she and I turned out to be two peas in a pod at the park! It was hot as Hades, but we didn't care. We must have watched the planes for half an hour. She would giggle and say, "whoa!" when they got close. We will definitely be going back. I can see us spending whole days there in the fall when it's cooler. I can't wait to take her on the playground and have a picnic.

I want to write more, but I've got a mad headache again (wonder what's up with that? Must be the heat). I'll be back with another update soon!

Confession, gossip, modesty...light fare!

So as you can see I have happy, carefree things on my mind tonight :) This morning while Caitrin was napping I had the chance to visit with a dear friend, my former boss. She is on vacation this week and came over to catch up over Double Chocolate donuts. We had a great time talking about this and that. Seems a lot has changed in the nearly 10 months since I left their employ. I enjoyed hearing the inside scoop on how everyone's really doing. I stop in to say hi every now and then, but most people, when they're on the job, tend to portray an "everything's fine" appearance. And it's not that things aren't, for the most part, fine with my former colleagues...oh gosh, I'm rambling. Okay, back to the point. I did, or rather, failed to do, something I regret. I asked how the lady I worked for during the final year of my tenure was. My friend replied that she was well and then relayed a story about the other lady's flair for the dramatic. At the time my gossip radar beeped a little, and I should've listened to it. I should have changed the subject, and I didn't. I once heard a guest speaker on Family Life Today say that in God's eyes, gossip is no different than murder; it is the slaying of the character of someone who has no opportunity to defend himself. And though I wasn't saying anything, that's exactly the point. I wasn't saying ANYTHING. I think you're just as guilty when you fail to do the right thing as when you do the wrong thing. Thankfully God is gracious to forgive us these faux pas, but I really will make an effort to step up in the future and do the right thing.

Caitrin and I were at Wal-Mart today (sorry, Dad, if you're reading this). We needed to grab various odds and ends, and as we were checking out, I spotted pay dirt: this week's edition of TV Guide, which has a lovely photo of Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny on the cover. It's got a feature article about the new movie (or rather, the way there is NO information being made available about the new movie), replete with a piece by Frank Spotnitz. I HAD to pick it up of course...I'll do anything I can to support this movie. I didn't get a chance to look at it until after we got home and I got Caitrin down for her nap and put things away. Well...(pauses to consider how best to put a positive spin on this)...let's just say it was an excellent reminder why I make it a point not to expose myself to mainstream print media. The XF stuff was great, but the rest of the magazine was nothing but smut. What the heck?! This is TV Guide, you know, the same one my grandparents always had! The one I used to spend hours reading at Grandma & Grandpa's house. I dare say it's a safe bet not many grandparents subscribe to that piece of trash anymore.

So that brings up an issue that is very near and dear to my heart: modesty. It sounds like a Puritan concept in this day and age, right? Society champions the serpent called lust at every turn. It's the reason we cancelled our cable and got the Dish Network Family Pack instead - no MTV, no VH1, no FX or Spike. About the time I was graduating high school, the "music channels" stopped being about music at all. I remember when I used to watch Bonnie Raitt and John Lee Hooker on House of Blues. You can sure as heck see a lot of hookers on MTV now, but none of them are blues legends. You need only step out your front door to see the effect of the spell we're under. The one that tells us there's nothing wrong with microminis on seven year olds and bikinis on toddlers. That it's cute when you're wearing a thong and it sits higher on your waist than your pants.

I see it when I shop for baby clothes. Yes, baby clothes! Apparently it's totally kosher for the crib set to wear booty shorts and tube tops. Recently we started cloth diapers with Caitrin, and they're much bulkier than disposables. As a result, she needed a whole new set of pants, shorts and the like in a bigger size. I searched stores high and low for weeks, and finally had to bring my husband along with us to help me. Oh, there were plenty of options available, if I'm into my 9 month old wearing the infant equivalent of dominatrix gear! The end result was that, just as when I shop for myself, I really only found 2 pairs of shorts that were appropriately modest, and resorted to buying capris and bermudas for the most part. I am sickened that society's assault on female self-respect begins at birth. My daughter is beautiful, but I want her to learn to extol the virtues of inner beauty and intelligence. I never want any of my children to use their appearance to manipulate others. In allowing baby and toddler girls to dress in what essentially amounts to lingerie, we are creating little teases. We are teaching our girls to use their bodies to attract attention. This is why nine year olds are getting vaccinated against HPV. I can assure you that when the time comes, my nine year old will NOT be given Gardasil. What does it say for the state of the human race when we tell our children that they are sexual beings and that it's to be celebrated?! To quote my nephew A.P., "aye, aye, aye!"

I'll get off my soapbox presently, but let me close with this: I will teach my daughter that modesty in dress and behavior is anything but dowdy. Thanks to sites like C28.com, there are tons of hip, edgy options out there. I am the world's biggest denim fiend. Jeans are my weakness, and I would go to the ends of the earth and sell my birthright for the perfect pair. That said, I am sick to death of hearing that young girls "can't find anything but superlow-cut ones, that's why I wear them!" I have several pairs of Levi's 518's that I live in. I've also had plenty of luck with Paris Blues, LEI and Old Navy. Last comment, I swear: the picture above is me and Caitrin just before we left for church a couple Sundays ago. I included it to prove a point about modest dress. I got this shirt from C28, and I found Caitrin's, which almost matches mine, at Target along with her super-cute bike shorts. There are plenty of options, you've just gotta be patient and look. I'm out.

Mama needs a break

This afternoon Caitrin and I spent a couple hours at Old Navy, Mama-shopping. She was an angel. I forgot our Hotsling so she had to put up with the stroller, and did so like a champ till the final half hour or so. Then she decided I needed to carry her, and she kept grabbing at everything! She was great though, and she made both of us laugh when she started climbing me, flipping my hair around and sticking her finger in my ear. But we never should've left ON, because my sweet girl was a grump from then on through the rest of the evening. She didn't really nap this afternoon (half hour maybe, compared to her usual 2-2 1/2 hours) and did a lot more of the tantrum-like crying like the other day at the mall. This from a baby who as a rule does not cry. All I can figure is her teeth are bothering her again. She only has the front two on the bottom, but her pedi says she's working on their counterparts on the top, as well as the next two bottom ones. I can't feel anything, but I couldn't before till they broke through.

I wish she could tell me, "Mama, my teeth hurt," or, "I have a belly ache," or whatever. I do know she wasn't real keen on being put down, so we hugged a lot. I made pancakes for dinner - her favorite, but then at bathtime she screamed again and Sean took over because I was on the verge of a mild meltdown.

These next two thoughts are totally random and have little if anything to do with the rest of this, but I keep meaning to get them out of my system and always forget. If you'll excuse me for a moment, my shopping trip this afternoon brought to mind something that really gets under my skin. I'm trying to get used to the way Caitrin and I can't go anywhere without people stopping to talk to us because she's so precious. That in and of itself is not a bad thing. By nature I am not a people person, but being Caitrin's mom is forcing me to get more comfortable with attention from strangers. Never am I more aware that I'm God's ambassador than when I step out with my little girl. That said, I think I know how it feels to be a celebrity being stalked by the paparazzi. Like I said I am learning to be more tolerant of total strangers' sudden outbursts, but there are times when I (and Caitrin) am not in the mood and just want to be left alone! What's more, there are some people who seem to think it's perfectly okay to touch my kid just because she's friendly! Caitrin is absolutely fascinated with people's faces right now, so anytime a face gets close to her she's inclined to reach out for it. But by no means does that mean I want people we don't know touching her! Don't they know that she's just a baby and has no clue what's good for her?! Look at her, sure. Talk to us, by all means. But HANDS OFF unless I give you a reason to touch my baby!

My other random thought: every single day at one point or another I look at Caitrin, usually when she has fallen asleep while nursing, and have the dreaded thought, "this moment she's as little as she's ever going to be." Sometimes it's just a wistful realization, but other times it's accompanied by tears. My first baby is almost ten months old. That's great, but it's also sad. I'm so afraid for her to grow up and away from me. I want to remember every breath, every smile, and I want those to come back to me in my old age as real as when they happened. On the one hand I am so ready for another baby, but on the other I don't want Caitrin to stop being the baby. I don't know, but that's enough sadness for now.

I've got quite the headache going, so I'm going to stop staring at the computer screen...and go stare at the TV instead LOL!

Stream-of-consciousness ramblings

Real quick before I get Caitrin up for lunch...got so many random things on my mind today! Missed a call from Tara the other night and my new phone didn't let me know it till yesterday. Grrr! Who'd have ever known that curtain tiebacks would be part of our babyproofing routine? We have floor-length curtains in the kitchen, which is really the safest place for Miss to play, but she was getting all tangled up in the curtains. While she was napping this morning I put up the tiebacks we bought at Target yesterday. I'm not a huge fan of them, but they're necessary.

Think we're taking a trip to Old Navy this afternoon. Would love to venture over to Arundel Mills because that one's huge, but I hate parking over there and the layout stinks so we'll probably just hit Severna Park. Caitrin's got clothes for the rest of the summer and then some; this trip's for Mama!

Think I've finally got my diaper-washing routine down. Wash once in cold water with Oxi-Clean Free and detergent (Arm & Hammer Free - Sensitive Skin), then wash hot with more Oxi-Clean and detergent, then extra rinse on warm (because my machine doesn't have a hot rinse). This is all done with the water level set to medium and the second rinse turned on. Then dry on high heat for 80 minutes...the Thirsties fitteds usually need another half hour beyond that, though.

Because it's not being promoted anywhere else, I'm going to plug it shamelessly here. The X-Files 2: I Want To Believe opens July 25th and Sean and I have a big night planned. You can check out the official movie site here, but the better source for all things X is here. In keeping with the random nature of this post, now that I'm ironing my hair I've actually heard a couple times that I look like "that X-Files chick." That anyone finds a likeness between me and Gillian Anderson is flattering beyond belief. I will definitely shamelessly plug the movie more later, but my little chick just woke up so I've gotta run.

Best laid plans...

Usually Caitrin and I walk in the morning, after her breakfast and before her a.m. nap. This morning it was raining, so we couldn't. We had to give her time to digest her cereal, but then we did have some fun playing in the living room. She had a terrific nap while Mama birthday-shopped online for Daddy.

After lunch, Caitrin and I headed to the mall (Marley) for no other reason than I thought it was a good way to make up for missing our morning walk. Nothing in particular we were looking for, just browsing. She was good as gold until about 2:45. I was about to turn us for home so we wouldn't be late for her afternoon nap, but first I stopped off at Chick-Fil-A and got a vanilla milkshake with the intention of sharing it with Caitrin. Her pediatrician said it's fine for her to have a taste of ice cream once in a while and she loves it! My goodness, as soon as she got her first mouthful, she went nuts. Apparently, I was supposed to forget that I wanted any of it and just hand the whole thing over to her. I was not giving her sips quickly enough I guess, because suddenly my sweet, happy little girl became a screaming, crying, tantrum-thrower! She turned beet-red and veins were popping all over the place. Of course EVERYONE dropped what they were doing to stare at us. I was mortified. I put her back in the stroller, much to her chagrin, and home we went.

Here goes nothin'!

Well, I've basically abandoned my Myspace, so thought I'd try this instead. Awfully hard to keep in touch with everyone I care about...hoping this will help. Unfortunately, Caitrin has just woken up from her nap and is none too happy. Must post later about her first public tantrum....