And Baby Makes Five

Yesterday my dearest friend, Heather & her husband Ryan had a gender revealment cook out to unveil and announce the gender of the newest addition to their family.

they're already parents to these two handsome fellas, who are Reed's BFF's for life:

Buchanan (Buck) Bates & Theodore Earl 
Buck is 3 and will be 4 in September. Theodore is 2 and will be 3 in December. 

Heather & Ryan are mine and Adam's best friends as a couple. Honestly. Ryan was a groomsmen in our wedding and Heather would've been a bridesmaid if she weren't so ridiculous. with Buck ten months older than reed, they very graciously let us experiment with parenting by babysitting baby Buck, always doling out parental advice without being condescending like the women in the grocery store who like giving out assholish unsolicited advice on how to raise my child.
we love them. very much. 

Anywhoo, for those of you that don't know the concept of a gender revealment party (i thought everyone did until I told my friend Megan while she was in town and she questioned the sanity of the practice) it's where you have a cake and when you cut the cake open, if there's blue cake, it's a boy and if there's pink cake, it's a girl.
here is Ryan & Heather's cake:

aside from looking amazing, it was also delicious. 

since I found out that she was pregnant, my money had been on baby number 3 being a girl. I predicted a boy with theodore and I'd been right so I felt pretty confident in my gender pick. Adam disagreed with me but where's the news there.

here's heather with an inside slice of the cake:

it's a tiny picture but it's definitely pink so it's a girl! 

proving, once again, that adam should stop betting against me.

Ryan reacting to the happy news that he's finally getting a daddy's girl.
heather told me afterwards that the only reason she was disappointed in finding out it was a girl was because that meant Ryan was right. Ah, maturity :)

with buck, reed & theodore constantly running around, playing in mud, sword fighting and the like, a little girl will be nice to have around. although knowing that pennel blood, she'll probably kick their asses in sword fighting at some point.

but BIG congratulations to heather, ryan, buck & theodore on the sweet baby girl!

and this has nothing to do with the above post but how bout them Memphis Grizzlies!! Grizznation!!

Celebrity Baby Boom

I love babies, I love celebrity gossip and I love my blog. 

Seldom am I happier than when I can meld the three into one, particularly when I'm lacking inspiration to write as I have been the last week or so.

There's been a fresh wave of pregnant celebrities as of late and since my friends (Robyn) literally count on me to update my blog about this stuff so they can be aware I'm more than happy to do this public service. 

Bones is Having a Baby

the stunning older sister of Zooey Deschanel, Emily, and her husband, writer-actor David Hornsby are expecting a baby later this year. I think all Bones fans are hoping this will force a Booth-Bones baby and subsequent relationship into the works. Or maybe it's just me. Emily Deschanel is one of the only first time mommies on my list so an extra mazel tov to them. 

Put On Your Bossy Maternity Pants

30 Rock Actress-Writer-Producer Tina Fey announced last week on an Oprah taping that she was five months pregnant with her second child with husband, Jeff Richmond. I was pretty jazzed about this, their little girl Alice is so adorable and plus anything that makes Tina Fey (or Liz Lemon) happy makes me happy. 

I'm Honored to be a Big Sister!

Jessica Alba and her hubby Cash Warren are having another baby later this year. The picture is of her first pregnancy, with her now 3 year old daughter Honor Marie but I loved it so I used it. Next pregnancy, I'm definitely finding an excuse to wear a few gowns. Also, I'll be doing Nicole Richie's maternity fashion program of wearing maxi dresses & super enormous sunglasses. 

Other Celebrity Pregnancies: 

Tori Spelling & Dean McDermott are having their third child together and keeping the sex of the baby a suprise as they already have a boy & a girl (Liam is 4 & Stella is 2). 

i'm always a little weirded out by this coupling since Dean left his wife of 12 years (and their son) out of nowhere and took up with the also-married Tori. Ehh who am I to judge?

In other SNL-alum news, Maya Rudolph is expecting her third child with director Paul Thomas Anderson. They have two daughters, Pearl, 5, and Lucille, 1. Ever since I saw Away We Go with her & John Krasinksi, I love seeing her preggers in magazines so definitely excited about this one. 

In women-everywhere-please-stop-screwing-this-man news, Britney Spears' ex-husband, Kevin Federline, is now expecting his fifth child. Five children. Three baby mommas. One marriage. 

that's pretty much all i have to say on that one. 

And lastly, the WTF moment in the celebrity baby boom:

"Actress"-Model Kimberly Stewart, daughter of rocker Rod Stewart is expecting Benicio del Toro's baby. they released a statement saying that although they aren't a couple, they are both excited about the baby. 

ummm what?

Celebrities of the world (who are obviously reading this blog) go forth and procreate so that when I am lacking anything to discuss, there is always a filler blog waiting in the wings. 

Boom! It's Celebrity Babies!

this post is a request from my fellow celebrity stalker and one of my lady loves, Ronni Jupson.  don't worry, for the few followers who also aren't bff with Ms. Jupson, I will provide a visual.

 the mollie fontaine lounge for Ronni's 21st birthday.

I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn't 2004 again because the Celebrity Baby Boom is in full swing again and Kate Hudson managed to catch the wave both times around.

We'll start with Goldie & Kurt's progeny since I've already mentioned her. Already mom to 7 year old boy (who looks kinda like a girl) Ryder with rocker ex-husband Chris Robinson, Kate has gotten herself knocked up again by another musician, Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy.This is slightly irritating because, if anyone besides me remembers this far back, Kate was seemingly pregnant for about two years last time around. She is atypical from the usual pattern of celebs pretty much waiting for the baby to crown before they even confirm they are pregnant. For Kate, I believe the sequence of events was she took an early response pregnancy test, her publicist called TMZ and then she let the baby daddy know.

This one is one of my favorites.

Victoria & David Beckham, or Posh & Becks as our friends across the pond refer to them, recently confirmed they are adding another baby to their brood of three boys (Brooklyn, Romeo & Cruz). At this point, I think they're just trying to form their own soccer team. I love seeing Posh preggo, it's like seeing a stick figure swallow a watermelon.

Yes, I know that Selma Blair (who I love), Jodie Sweetin, Pink, Alicia Silverstone and Ivanka Trump (is she really a celebrity?) are pregnant but I'm more interested in the babies that have recently seemed to appear out of thin air.

Owen Wilson confirmed last week that he and his nameless girlfriend were expecting a child and then 5 days later, out comes baby Robert Ford Wilson which was a way more normal name than I was expecting after all of his mental health problems.

Also on the where-did-they-come-from baby list is Faith Margaret Kidman Urban, which if you're quick on the uptake, is the daughter of Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban.

 

 

Nicole Kidman & baby Faith

Born December 28, 2010 via gestational carrier (is surrogate a dirty word now? I feel like this may be Camille Grammer's fault) her famous parents decided to keep mum until after the Golden Globes but just as the Oscar buzz really starts to kick up. Not that they don't love their daughter but you have to love the timing, it's pretty much a publicists dream.

Model Miranda Kerr & Baby Flynn with Husband Orlando Bloom.

While this is neither a pregnancy or a surprise, I'm including it because I just love this picture. 

A natural moment in motherhood, though I never looked like that when I nursed Reed but hey, I'm not a super model! And it's way better than the People magazine photo shoots done eight weeks after the baby is born.

Since I'm already on the topic, I'll comment on the elephant in the city of Memphis as of late.
I recently posted that there was another blog titled Memphis Mama and according to every national news outlet, there's a lot more than just the two of us with a claim to the name. Frayser High School has reported 90 girls who are either pregnant or have given birth since this school year began.
While that's terrible and very sad, I'd like to comment on something that's being left out of every news blurb being said about the topic: Several of these girls were transferred into Frayser once they found out they were pregnant because of the school's funding for student child care. They don't all reside in the same school district, Memphis City Schools are currently herding all the pregnant girls. 

Still sad and terrible, but it's not exactly accurate reporting if you leave that detail out. You hear me, The Today Show?

Lastly, Kim Kardashian? Please keep your sex-tape-having-hugeass opinions to yourself. You aren't famous because anyone cares about your opinons on the societal issues plauging America. Spritz some of your perfume on, wear a tight skirt and call it a day.

Lists of Four

As remiss as I have been in my blogging of late, I've fallen even further behind on my blog reading. I was catching up and saw that my darling Shannon tagged me in this post, and so I will play along. 

1. Four shows that you watch:
one: The Office
two: Grey's Anatomy
three: The Venture Brothers
four: Family Guy

I was going to put Glee but Robyn made me feel like a hipster for following the crowd. Thanks, Robyn.

2. Four things that you are passionate about:
one: my sweet baby reed.
two: my wonderful new husband, Adam.
three: my friends. Oh, how I have amazing friends.
four: blogging. 

3. Four words & phrases you use a lot:
one: reed. reed. REED!
two: you're ridiculous (mostly to Ellie).
three: NO.
four: You're an Asshole (mostly to traffic when reed's not in the car)!

4. Four things you've learned from the past:
one: Not everyone is going to like everything you do.
two: None of my friends is ever going to think I should go blond, no matter how much I ask them.

three: Love is a gift, but that doesn't mean it isn't work.
four: If you get four positive pregnancy tests, it's not necessary to keep taking them.

5. Four places you would like to go:
(I've been to some of these but I'd like to go back with reed & adam)
one: New York City
two: Paris
three: Italy (yes, the entire country).
four: I will travel to New Zealand and walk The Lord of the Rings trail to Mordor and I will hike Mount Doom. 

6. Four things you did yesterday:
one: I took reed to the Children's Museum.
two: I visited Adam at work (& got a latte).
three: I went to work.
four: reed & I ate a lot of popcorn.

In case you can't tell, yesterday wasn't very exciting except for the morning at the CMOM.

7. Four things you are looking forward to:
one: Reed getting his big gift from Santa.
two: Christmas Eve Lunch with my family at my brother & sister-in-law's.
three: deep fried turkey & sweet potato casserole at my brother-in-law's on Christmas Day.
four: New Years Eve at the Pennel's

8. Four things that you love about winter:
one: drinking hot lattes.
two: the month-long break from school.
three: cozy socks.
four: when it's bloody OVER.

Today, the actual first day of winter, doesn't apply to most of these. For those not in Memphis, it was nearly 70 degrees outside.

9. Tag four people to play along:
Amanda @ Your's Truly
Amanda @ Because I Said So

Fallon @ Welcome to the Real World
Mary @ Home is Wherever I'm With You

things I've been doing instead of blogging

I've been a terrible blogger of late.
As always, Adam is partially to blame for stealing the computer unless I've commandeered it specifically for schoolwork but that excuse is about to go the way of unsliced bread because Adam's desktop computer is finished being rebuilt. Thanks Tim! And, as the post title suggests, i've also been doing other things aside from blogging:

Reading
the Shopaholic books. Ellie called me Monday morning cracking up laughing about Mini-Shopaholic, the latest installment, so of course I had to start reading them. Please don't judge them by the movie (Sorry, Isla Fisher, I do love you). If you're a fan of hilarious chick-lit, these books are great. However, if you're a frugal lady like me, as I was warned by Robyn, you will get stressed out by her inordinate spending habits. it's okay, it all works out.

Watching

1. The usual suspects: Glee, 16 & Pregnant, The Office, Grey's Anatomy & Private Practice.
2. RED. The Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren & John Malkovich movie about retired CIA operatives. It was hilarious, I actually liked it more than Adam did (who still liked it) which is crazy, since it's based off of a graphic novel. If you need a non-chick flick date night movie, I highly recommend it. 

movie date night with my wonderful husband :)

3. General Hospital. Don't judge me. No really, please don't. It's for my Television & Culture class, I've had to watch like five episodes to finish my assignment. It's beyond terrible, James Franco isn't on the show anymore. 

Seeing
I've gotten to see a lot of my friends this week, albeit the separate visits with the Haire sisters were both too short.

 (Ahem. Picture Edit).

I popped in on my dearest Robyn (& Jesse) to get the first two Shopaholic books. And of course she further took care of me by feeding me pumpkin bread & hot chocolate :)

Ronni & I went to see the TOMS shoe guy (Blake Mycoski) talk at school
and then the next day we were joined by Reed & Molly at Muddy's for some cupcakes and cookies that were muy delicioso. Ronni & Reed became great chums as reed repeatedly asked her "get a bite of cupcake?" and Ronni obliged and handed over her Frankly Scarlet.

I didn't see these ladies together, but come on, this is a great picture of both of them.
I finally saw Mrs. Sarah Harr for the first time since either one of us became married ladies. It was great to have coffee and catch up :)
As far as my dear Elspeth goes, we happened to bump into each other on campus resulting in a 20 minute chat and me being late for my Mass Comm Law class. It was lovely, and of course, too short.

and last but not least, Reed & I had a Target trip, backyard picnic and lots of playtime on Friday with Heather, Buck & Theodore Pennel. Aside from thinking I lost my car keys for a few hours only to discover Buck was sleeping on them and Reed getting pecked at by a chicken, we had lots of fun.


this isn't from last week but it's fairly recent. it's blurry because they were running around crazy. And yes, those legs poking out at Reed belong to Buck.

Oh and the most exciting part of my blogging adventure- I had a new follower when I logged in and it wasn't someone I see on a weekly basis or whose blog I follow! Thanks Fallon :)

A New Addition to the Family :)

I'm a few days late but homework took off and we had a lot going on this weekend.

My brother David and his lovely wife Dara welcomed their first child this week.

Lucas Keaton Holdford
Born on September 1, 2010 at 8:05 am
7 pounds, 11 ounces. 21 inches long.

If you can't tell by the picture, he is absolutely perfect. As I'm writing this, I miss him. 

But I'm trying to remember that he's Dara & David's baby and I don't get to steal him whenever I want tiny baby snuggles and kisses.

Luke, or Wuke as your older cousin Reed calls you, welcome to the world. You have a crazy but wonderful family and we all love you more than words can express :)

talking to sweet baby luke

reed said hi baby wuke. i was a little bit excited.

with both of his grandpa's

Excited Uncle Adam. Isn't he adorable with babies?

Happy Sunday Funday Everyone :)

Mama, those are GIRLS. Mama!

Another post about the adventures of Raquel & Reed!

Last night was bittersweet, my dear friend Megan came over for dinner with me & Adam before she leaves town. It was really nice for one of my oldest friends and Adam to get to know each other better, as most of my girlfriends that he knows are my Starbucks ladies (Goodness, I love you girls!) and, to him, it's more his (mostly former) co-workers and less my friends.
But like I said, bittersweet.
I'm getting to see her tomorrow for a last coffee and she'll be back in town for the wedding in less than two months, but it was still a little sad.

 me & megan in 2004. we actually haven't changed that much :)

We were pretty busy today, this morning we went to Otherlands for coffee, milk & zucchini bread with my mother. happy happy joy joy.

After sweet nap time, we went to my OTHER friend Megan's house to play with her sweet bbgurls. be prepared before you scroll down, you might go into shock over adorableness.

Teresa & Liana

when we walked in, reed took one look at them and then looked at me and said "Mama, those are girls! Mama, Mama!" It's pretty clear that he's with buck & theodore all the time and the only girls he's aware of are in their twenties.

reed & bbgurls seemed to have a pretty good time together. they had a train table and TWO Thomas trains (on top of the one reed insisted that we bring) and a few Elmo's so that helped reed settle in. however, he didn't escape being the only boy in girl city.

that's my little man with a fairy princess wand.

 After it cooled down by half a degree we went outside to the swing and the slide which thrilled reed to pieces. actually to the point that he had a meltdown when we needed to leave.

So sorry Megan & Kevin!

we had plans to go to a Memphis Redbird's game but reed seemed a little too tired for that. though he loves Rockey Redbird so he may have perked up had we consulted him before making that decision.

 

 Reed & Rockey at the first redbird's game of the season.

you can tell how excited he is based on how excited Random Crazy Smiling Background Lady seems.

And now reed is asleep, Adam has made me a d&d widow for the evening and there's no Police Women of Memphis on tonight, sadly. it's nights like this when I'm alone, the apartment is clean and I've got nothing to do where I either wish school had started (11 days) or, specifically to Thursdays, that Grey's Anatomy and The Office had started their new seasons (5 weeks).

 But there must be wedding stuff for me to work on! Goodnight all :)

two years of reed bryant hinson

I can barely believe it but little man reed is two years old today. 

He is now fast asleep after a fabulous, yet small and quiet birthday (which I will update about tomorrow).

And now the two years of Reed Bryant Hinson...

the sweetest little sleeper, he pushed his hand up there by himself :)

 

less than two weeks old.

Almost 3 months old, dozing off after a bath.

OK under 4 months, he slept if he wasn't eating!

I love the fat rolls around his wrists and his chunky thighs.

the kid can pull off trucker hats :)
7 Months Old.

it's blurry but it's the first time he pulled up and stood by himself!
8 Months Old.

OMG Mama :) 9 Months Old.

 Reed's One Year Pictures.

 He's a little sad that the vacuuming is over.

15 Months Old.

My Little Fashionista Boy in his Sunglasses.

17 Months Old.

My Little Fireman, 23 Months.

Check back tomorrow for reed's birthday celebrations :)

the adventures of raquel & reed :)

it's been almost a week, and I'm sorry dear blogger friends. It's not my fault, Adam has taken my laptop hostage for video games knowing that when school starts (32 days for those with no Saturday classes), it will be ganked back for my use and he'll be banished back to the x-box.

he lives a hard life :)

Other exciting news that kept me from blogging, I joined the gym this week! 

 All my Starbucks ladies work out and take classes at French Riviera Spa and I figured the motivation of meeting people and taking classes with friends would help me get off my ass!

However, mama duty calls over working out tonight. I went to a hip hop class on Tuesday and worked out on my own yesterday so the first week of membership isn't a total waste but tonight's Zumba class with Molly & Robyn was put off due to the level 5 meltdown reed was having over not having shoes on, the adventures of his Thomas train and Elmo doll and the general state of affairs. I figured neither reed nor the child care center would appreciate me dropping him off in that state.

Before I get any further, Happy Birthday Heather :)

My dear (& only mom-) friend, Heather, is celebrating her 87th birthday today and reed & I took her out for a Brother Juniper's breakfast this morning.

It's SO Yummy :)

 In the other adventures of Raquel & Reed....

 pretty pretty Toffee Nut Latte from Cafe Eclectic.

Reed had the special treat of chocolate milk. Unfortunately, it was so special that he inhaled it and I didn't get a picture :(

And tomorrow we're going to see Heather, Buck and Theodore and their chickens! These are about three months old, but chickens don't change that much.

Reed & Rocky (after me) the Chicken.

And then we get a visit for dinner and movies from Aunt Ellie (who reed's been asking about all week!)

reed's first birthday with Aunt Ellie :)

I used the above picture because, if anyone can believe it, Reed's turning two on Sunday!

Before I freak out that my baby is growing up, it's Thursday which means Adam is at his weekly d&d game and I get to snuggle up with Police Women of Memphis and make my grocery list for the week.

thanks for playing, friends.

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.

Wedding Wednesday: Tales of a DIY-Bride

i'm starting a weekly segment in my blog called Wedding Wednesday. I refuse to explain this further. So if you hate the wedding talk, avoid me on Wednesdays (but hey, at least you know when to avoid now).

this week, I bought some jars from Target for candy at the wedding, did some more shopping on Etsy for decor and did some looking around for musicians for our ceremony music. All exciting :)

however, the big wedding thing of the week is....(drum roll, please)....INVITATIONS! 

I'm beyond excited, inviting people to our wedding makes it real.

as you might have guessed from the title, my (okay, OUR) invitations were one of the DIY projects that I've tackled as a bride. before anyone worries, no one is receiving hand-written, crayon invitations. 

I went to Michael's, who sells a collection from Brides Magazine, and went over to my lovely sister-in-law, Dara's, (well my brother, David, lives there too but whatever, he's out of town) and used her printer to print out my invitations, response cards and address labels.

I'm a little biased but I think they look great. And I couldn't have done it without my new sister (& bridesmaid) help! So thanks Dara!

 the invitations kit :)

David & Dara (just to give the readers a visual!)

Oh and you can't see him but my little baby nephew, Luke, is in the picture too (in Dara's belly :)

More Wedding Updates Next Wednesday!

It's Just Another Manic Monday

hello blog friends, happy Monday morning. hopefully everyone in Memphis survived the trek to wherever they're going without a boat after our wonderful flash flood warning. I'm blogging from the fabulous Starbucks Poplar Prescott so I can have free wifi and sneak a peak at my handsome man while the little man is at school.  We had a busy weekend and I must warn you that I'm sleep deprived and thus it's likely this will be more rambling and less coherent thoughts.

the Hinson-Miranda family weekend in snap shots:

Raquel & Reed date at Memphis Pizza Cafe (reed's enjoying a potato chip and wearing my sunglasses)

  a visit with our precious baby cousin Natalie (and my baby cousins Anna & Megan and Aunt Nora)

 the post-birth baby shower of our friends Liz & Rocky for sweet little baby max.

Midnight talks, Target, pizza, swimming & a movie with Aunt Ellie :)

babies were the theme of this weekend.

and now I have a Mama day, as I don't have to work while reed is at school. I had grand plans of getting a lot done but the downpour is putting the kibosh on those dreams. however, the most exciting part of the day will be meeting for a cake tasting with Ms. Karen Mulford, our adorable and tiny friend, who is also making our wedding cakes :) She's so creative and everything I've tasted of hers has been delish.

wedding plans are slightly coming along, I'm still not wild about the size of the wedding but when I think about not having all of our friends and families there...well, I'm not wild about that either. I guess the side of me that has panic attacks when I spend more than $5 can't justify spending tons of money on what is essentially a party.

then again, the side of me that turns into a giggling girl someone calls me "the bride" hates the part of me that just called my fabulous and important wedding a party. (Friends quote from Monica: "Honey, I love you but if you call our wedding a party again, you might not get invited")

I've gotta get out of this coffee house for a few hours. Friends, have a great Monday.

Oh and for my ladies, Hot Irish Guy just came in, winked at me and called me lass :)