Crazy about Babies

it's eleven o'clock at night. for the average early twenty-something, that's not too late but it's definitely hovering around my bedtime. particularly when reed went to bed at 8pm.

so why am i awake? 

that's not really the question. the question is, why am i awake and going through my Baby Names iPhone app like its the latest E!Online breaking story about Bristol Palin taking back her semi-porn star baby daddy (it's like crack to me).

Lately, it seems like I'm surrounded by babies. our friend Liz just had a baby (baby max from this earlier post), my brother & sister-in-law are having my sweet little nephew in September, I just watched the Glee episode where Quinn has her sweet little girl and random teeny tiny babies have been stalking me. I swear, everywhere I go from Target to Starbucks to the grocery store, there are teeny tiny babies. 

my ovaries shout at me at the sight of them. Adam gives me a scared look and then tries to sleep on the couch. 

It's not rational, I know. It's definitely not the time to have another baby. And the therapist that I should probably be going to thrice-monthly would say that this is likely a reaction to the fact that reed's about to turn two and is definitely not my little baby anymore.

 sweet baby reed only one day old :)

And if I'm being honest, getting reed through potty (eeesssh i hate that word) training, learning to share, counting in the seven languages that kids now are supposed to learn or forever be banished to the short bus and everything else that comes with the terrible two's (which Adam still goes through occasionally at the tender age of 27) is more than enough for me with school and maintaining some semblance of sanity. 

but i don't care. I want another one. NOW. Girl, Boy, I don't care (ok, most of the time I want all boys). I want to pick out names again, decorate another nursery, go to obstetrician appointments and see sonograms, give birth and breastfeed again.

Moving on from my insanity to the baby name app.

Both Raquel & Reed are falling in popularity trends over the last two years, thankfully.

The top boy and girl names of 2009 are Jacob & Isabella, for all you twilight fans (Edward is also rising in popularity trends and I much prefer it over Jacob).

Since mine and little man's names start with R, I had the idea to name a possible daughter with an A name like Adam's. My favorite two names, Avery and Addison, are sadly way too popular now.

BUT.

When I looked up Addison, the name means "daughter of Adam" and I'm sold.

 This has gone on long enough, though, and citizens of Memphis and readers of this blog, don't worry. Reed's going to be an only child for a while.

but seriously, keep those babies away from me.

my first movie review of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

I know it's a few weeks after the release but to me, that's just less pressure. I know now that no one is going to google Eclipse reviews and stumble across my little blog expecting Roger Ebert. But alas, the review.

I saw Eclipse opening night at the 12:04 a.m. showing with my dear friend Molly, along with tons of Paradiso Prostitots in Team Edward & Team Jacob shirts and lots of Twilight Moms. I had a calmer experience this afternoon at the earliest showing at the Malco Forest Hill with my favorite sister-in-law, Dara, and feel like I can adequately review the movie.

(As a note, while the movie has been out for a while and anyone who watches the movies has read the books, I'm still going to attempt to make this a spoiler-free review).

For those who don't know, Eclipse is the third installment of the Twilight Saga (based off the books by Stephanie Meyer) and it jumps right in with our heroine and the heaviest breathing girl in Forks, Washington, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), and her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), in an attempt to break the record for most marriage proposals in under 10 minutes. 

Edward & Bella.

The plot thickens when it's revealed that Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), Bella's werewolf former best friend who happens to be in love with her, is still upset that Bella chose to be with Edward and wants to be a vampire too. And further when previous vampire villain Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) returns, building an army of uber strong vampire newborns to take Bella down.

 

My official opinion: I loved it. And not just because Pattinson's Edward Cullen makes me weak in the knees. 

While I don't think even the hardest of Twi-hards (a label i refuse to wear myself) is laboring under any delusions that any of the Twilight Saga films are being reviewed by the Academy, Eclipse definitely blew past the expectations that Twilight and New Moon had inspired.

But it wasn't perfect.

I know it's explained in the book, but I'm with Edward on this one: "Doesn't he own a shirt?" Aside from the lack of clothing, Lautner's Jacob had one too many one-liners for me. But the fourteen year olds loved it, so what do i know?

Ok, this one I want to preface with I love Anna Kendrick. I do, really. And I always want her role increased in these movies. However, the way screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg went about this is giving her the valedictorian speech. May I just say that if Jessica (Kendrick) is the best and brightest that Forks High School has to offer, the town should be worried.

I LOVED the casting change of Bryce Dallas Howard as Victoria.

Brilliant casting aside, I have a note for director David Slade. The camera doesn't actually already have to be moving all the time. The fight scene was nearly perfect but it would've been a lot better if I wasn't reaching for the Dramamine. 

the main attraction and source of most conflict (Team Edward vs. Team Jacob anyone?) throughout the film is the werewolf-human-vampire love triangle. without revealing everything, in this scenario, neither of the gentle-monsters are bad guys and Bella is beyond ridiculous. The final Bella & Edward scene almost makes up for her being so ridiculous though :)

Official Movie Grade: B+