Would You Hire a Wedding Videographer?

If I was getting married to Patrick again today there are quite a few things I'd do differently about my wedding, but the biggest one is that I would hire a videographer. When we got married I thought that wedding videos were mostly cheesy and why pay money for something I would probably just cringe at. WRONG! Our wedding day was such a blur that it would be so wonderful to have it on tape so that I could look back and remember the details of the ceremony, the music at the reception, some of the things we said to our bridal party, family and each other, etc. Our photos were wonderful (thanks JKOE!) but we spent so much time and money on the day I wish I had even more record of it.

How about you? What would you do differently at your wedding? Did you hire a videographer?

PS. Have you seen the wonderful new HBO documentary 112 Weddings? A videographer who has been filming weddings for 20 years went back to catch up with some of the couples. Patrick and I were glued to the screen, it's definitely worth checking out.

Would you wear bright eyeliner?

Mylo's wonderful nanny Jessica often wears gorgeous bright green or blue eyeliner which looks stunning on her. I'm too much of a wuss to try it out but I'd like to give it a chance at some point. Am I too old??

Elle Fanning recently rocked neon yellow eyeliner at Comic-Con and looked so cute. Would you dare? 

PS. Jenny showing us how to wear neon makeup. Guess this trend has stuck around! 

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Would you teach your baby sign language?

 

For the past few weeks Myles has been driving us all a little bonkers with his fairly constant whining. He has this little sound that he makes all day that's like a high pitched "eh" noise. He hasn't started saying any words yet so this is his best attempt to communicate with us every thing from "I'm hungry, where's my breakfast?" to "I'm bored, let's go outside." Honestly I can't blame the little guy for trying to talk with us the only way he knows how.

Patrick and I are both eager to help Myles to communicate with us but there are only so many times you can try to get him to say "mama." So I'm thinking of trying to teach him some sign language. I've heard it can be fairly easy to teach babies a few words of ASL so that they are able to communicate before they have verbal language skills.

This website is awesome with basic videos on how to get started. Has anyone out there tried baby sign language? Any tips or success stories to get us started?

PS. 12 basic sign language words (love the one for cat!)

Would You Add Butter to Your Coffee?

Have you heard of this new craze called Bulletproof Coffee? People are adding butter to their morning cup of Jo instead of creamer...to loose weight. What??

Dave Asprey "invented" this concoction after tasting coffee with butter while trekking in Tibet. His recipe involves adding unsalted butter and MCT oil (or coconut oil) to your morning coffee, then blending it in to a frothy "latte-like" drink. He claims that when substituted for breakfast it is a great tool for weight loss while heightening awareness at the same time. Sounds about right if you don't eat breakfast and then drink coffee... I wouldn't know though since I'm more of a tea girl.

Apparently butter coffee is becoming the new thing at fancy coffee shops as well, would you try it?

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Would You Take Your Child on a Dangerous Adventure?

A while back you may remember seeing Eric and Charlotte Kaufman in the news because they had to be rescued with their two young children by the coast guard on a family sailing trip across the Pacific. Their story made headlines across the country as everyone from the hosts of The View to the NY Times commented on their supposed poor parenting and ill fated adventure. The Kaufman's had not granted any interviews until their story ran a couple of weeks ago on This American Life. Ira Glass interviewed them about the details of their trip and what went wrong in a segment titled "Call for Help."

Being that I've attempted to sail a boat exactly two days in my life I was surprised by how riveted I was by the story, and even more, how much I felt like I related to the Kaufman's. As I read through their family blog I found myself asking, why am I so interested in this story? Why do I relate to this so much? And in the end, I think there are two reasons. One is that I like adventures and I wholeheartedly believe that children benefit from living a little bit outside of the box. It was a good reminder to me that bringing Myles on some adventures, whether that be travel, a concert, heading out on the water or into the mountains... or just staying up past his bedtime, is good for him and something that vibes with our family culture.

But upon reflection, I think the larger reason I was so drawn to the Kaufman's story is that on some level parenting itself is a "dangerous adventure." There is huge potential for failure, embarrassment, inconvenience, and loss, but also mystery, excitement, wonder and novelty. I don't think most people enjoy having to "call for help" but having a child makes it nearly impossible to avoid. I relate so much to Eric and Charolotte because even though I never plan to sail across the Pacific, I can taste what it would feel like to try something risky with your kids and to fail.

Being adventurous when you have children takes a lot of guts and since Mylo was born I have been mostly afraid to push the conventional rules of society and parenting. I find the Kaufman's story inspiring...here's to all the parent's out there on this "dangerous adventure."

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Would You Hire a Birth Photographer?

The idea of someone photographing the birth of my baby always seemed a bit odd to me before Mylo was born. I wanted the experience of giving birth to be intimate and really only include Patrick, myself, our doula, and minimal assistance from medical professionals along the way. If you've read his birth story you know I didn't really get my wish. Now that I can reflect on the experience it might be nice to have some classy, professional, birth photos to look back on now. Especially because the natural part of my labor was so overshadowed by the needed interventions that took place in the end. I'm so grateful for the photos that Jason was able to snap just after I met Myles for the first time. I was so drugged I barely even remember him taking them but they are very special to us now. I recently read an article on Babble about how in a C-section delivery, birth photography can be even more important since the photos will serve as the eyes of the mother since she can't see what is happening.

I tried to take photos when my sister gave birth to Rory but I did NOT do the moment justice. It was one of the most beautiful and magical moments I have ever experienced and I just wasn't able to capture that with my camera. Although it may be weird to have a stranger or acquaintance in the room during this intimate moment it would also be nice to have those private photos for years to come.

These are lovely photos of a birth and here is an interesting interview with a birth photographer. Did you hire a birth photographer? Would you?

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Would You Assign Seats at a Dinner Party?

Lately I've been thinking about an Irish etiquette point that I miss from our days in Dublin. In Ireland, it is considered poor manners to sit next to your spouse/partner at a dinner party or event. The general thought is that you already spend so much time with your partner, the point of being out is to meet new people and converse with others. This comes naturally to Patrick and I...not to say that we don't enjoy being around each other, but when we are out we naturally tend to chat with different crowds and Patrick in particular loves to meet new people.

I've never assigned seating at a dinner party (we didn't even do it at our wedding!) but I think there is actually something really nice about putting thought into where people sit and who would be most interested in chatting with whom. Jenny and the girls did a great job of assigning seating at my baby shower, everyone seemed to be getting along well and they seated me next to the out of town guests.

Would you feel comfortable going to an event or party and sitting separately from your partner? Do you assign seating at parties you throw?

PS. Tips on seating arrangements at a party (Patrick is definitely the Charmer!) and dinner party etiquette from 60 years ago (ATTN: JENNY).


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