Marin is entered in the Baby Gap Casting Call! We would really appreciate friends and family and even strangers who think he's as adorable as we do, going to vote for our little guy! You can vote once every 24 hours and we would love it if you'd take the time to do this! Please pass the info along to all friends and family who would be willing to join in our quest to make Marin the new Mr. Baby Gap. :)

Click on the link below to vote! You must sign in or create an account to make your vote "count". When you click on the vote button, it will open up a page to sign in or create an account. Unfortunately, your vote will not "count" if you don't do this step. Sorry to make things so complicated, but I think they did that to keep people from voting multiple times a day anonymously (there is a one vote per day limit). Thanks everyone!

http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/mrorex/849195673/

For the record, Marin's name is not Mary. Most people think that is what we're saying as a reply when they ask, "What's his name?" And when we answer people just say, "Oh".

I don't think Matthew and I mumble, but for some reason when we say Marin people hear Mary. Even when they get the puzzled look on their faces and we say, "like the word mariner" they still act confused. Everyone says it is a "hard name to pronounce." Sorry to disappoint everyone by not naming him a name that will be shared by at least 5 of his kindergarten classmates. :)

Let me start off by saying that the only person that appreciates someone holding the door for them more than a pregnant woman is a woman pushing a stroller! I had 2 different people hold the door open for Marin and I today when we were out shopping and I thanked them profusely. You never know how nice automatic doors are until you have a baby. Next time you see someone with a stroller, hold the door for them. They'll be thrilled! I have noticed that people don't hold the door for daddies though. Daddies with babies like a little helping hand now and again too. Don't forget about them! :)

Now, here comes the suggestion part:

My plead for the night is to all you baby lovers out there: please, please, do not touch someone else's child. I have been shocked to find just how many people feel it is their place to touch my baby. They touch his hands, face, feet, you name it before you can say, "Please don't do that". If you say anything, people act all offended! I'm thinking to myself, "Uh, you were the one that touched someone you don't know. YOU should be ashamed of yourself!"

Even if the mom or dad gives you a polite smile after you paw all over their offspring, rest assured they are appaled. With H1N1 spreading so rapidly, along with stomach viruses and the garden variety flu that the school kids are passing along these days, you can't be too careful. To all you parents with infants out there, it is your job to protect your baby. Don't be "nice" and let strangers touch your child. If you can catch them before they do it say something like, "Please don't touch the baby. His pediatrician has asked that only friends and family handle him during cold and flu season." That's going to be my standard answer from now on.

The thing is people strike with snake-like precision. I was looking at a rack of clothes at Target and had Marin's stroller handle still in my hand. I turned my back for 2 seconds and turn back around and this lady is standing there holding his hand. I was dumbfounded. He puts his hands in his mouth all the time. I was praying he would hold out until I could get the wipes out of the diaper bag. Fortunately, I got him wiped down before he immediately stuck that same hand she touched into his mouth. Gross!

You may think I'm over reacting, but what is more important? Sparing the "feelings" of random strangers in public or having your poor baby get sick unnecessarily? If you think I'm over reacting, think about: what if that person went to the bathroom and didn't wash their hands? Nasty thought, huh? You don't know them, so you don't know how clean or non-clean they are. So tell them to keep their hands off your baby! As Matthew said to me tonight, "When you become a parent, it is your job to protect your child." I couldn't agree more. You don't have to shield them from every germ on the playground, but if you are still sterilizing their bottles and pacifiers, why would you let a stranger touch them?

Matthew has been working late tonight, but took a break to come in here to see what I was up to. When I told him about this post, he wanted to add his two cents. He said we should teach Marin to bite like a dog. People will ask if they can touch your dog, but won't ask if they can touch your kid. Hummm, that is food for thought.

Also, forget about germs for a minute. What if the person that is touching your baby is just a creepy perv? Your baby will look to you to see what is "o.k." In my opinion, a stranger touching you is wrong, period. If you want to look at my baby, fine, just keep your hands to yourself. My mom teaches her preschoolers to "keep your hands on your own body". If they can learn it, why can't grown-ups?

I hope I've gotten my point across to other "nice" parents out there who are afraid to say anything.

The much anticipated day arrived (the Fall Yard sale for our community) last Saturday. I've never participated in the yard sale, because we usually just take all of our unwanted items to Goodwill. Having just had a baby though, we had lots of already outgrown clothes that I thought I could get some money out of. Turns out, I was right.

The yard sale goers are insane. We opened the door to the garage at 6:30 to move the cars out and the clothes out into a more prominent space near the front and we had 4 customers before Matthew could get both cars out of the garage! He and Marin went back to bed because they couldn't handle all the craziness. ha.ha.

I ended up making $70.71 cents, a little over $15 an hour. That isn't bad if you ask me! Our next door neighbor made $168 but she had a big ticket item to sell (a mattress). They sold the mattress before they could even get it out the front door. A guy offered them 100 bucks on the spot! Who knew you could sell a used mattress?! Our other next door neighbor sold 2 of them! Junk trinkets are also highly sought after, particularly used flower pots and half way burned down candles. Don't forget half way gone bottles of perfume too. Seriously. All these things sold like hot cakes. Unfortunately, not by me! I had no idea you could sell some of this stuff, but you know I will be prepared for the one this Spring!

Things I have bought with my windfall of cash include:

A Bumbo baby seat for Marin, with an attachable play tray
A Nashville Predators Baby Bib
Nashville Predators Stickers to go on Marin's earmuffs
Nashville Predators mini pennant
Nashville Predators Baby Socks

I still have some left over dough. I'll let you know what kind of crap I end up buying with it!

We were having a discussion with our next door neighbor, who just had a new baby in July. He told us that within the first day of being home with his little boy, he got peed on. His dad told him he was a "rookie" for letting that happen.

Last night, I had a rookie moment. Marin went to sleep at 10 p.m., so Matthew and I went into overdrive preparing the house for drywall work the next day (moving things around so the guy wouldn't get drywall dust on it). We also had to make Marin's bottles and deal with Lexi. By the time we finished all this, it was midnight.

Marin woke up bright and early at 6:30 a.m. and I was still exhausted. Since it was my night to have to get up with him, I got up and left Matthew asleep. I don't know about you, but I can't function on 6 hours of sleep. Marin went back down by 7:45, but wouldn't you know it, the drywall guy shows up. That's. Just. Grand. So, I couldn't go back to sleep with him making all the noise he was making.

Sleep when the baby sleeps is the understatement of the year. The problem is, there are so many things to do in a day and not enough hours in the day to do it. Forget having any "me" time or "couple time". We hadn't had a moment's peace since our vacation in mid August. My mom was going to come down this weekend and take the reins for a couple days, but unfortunately for us all, she is sick. I hope she feels better, both for our sake and for hers. ha.ha. But, we all decided it would be best if she stayed home this weekend, feeling better or not, since we don't need any more germs around here. We know 2 people who have had the H1N1 flu and mom is hoping she doesn't have that. She knows lots of people who have had it or have it now, so who knows?

Oh a happier note, you all should see Marin. He's getting so mobile. He can roll all over the place, from back to stomach and then stomach to back. He actually moved about 5-6 feet across the living room rug yesterday. We had better get on the child proofing, because I don't think it will be much longer before he crawls. Oh no!

It is a construction site at our house. We've had problems with our back door leaking and causing the hardwood floor to rot and our drywall has been in need of repairs for a few months now because of nearby blasting. The builder in our community is nearly done with the last house in the neighborhood, so now they are trying to tie up loose ends before they leave the community for good. Those "loose ends" include patching up our house. So, we finally got schedules worked out and they came today and will be here again tomorrow.

Before Marin, having repair guys over wasn't a big deal. I'd usually just leave and let them do their thing. Since keeping a baby out in public, entertained for 8 hours, is virtually impossible, we decided just to hang out at home while they do their work. This has Marin and I sequestered to one room, his bedroom. There is drywall that needs work in every other room in the house. So, we are just hanging out in here today. I now know what it feels like to be in prison.

Lexi is locked upstairs in her room and Matthew is in his office working-----so Marin and I are all alone in one room----all...day...long. I considered rethinking my position and taking him out to the mall. But it started raining (hard) so that idea was shot. In addition, the rain- while welcome for the grass- is NOT welcome when it comes to trying to paint. You can't open the windows for ventilation, so now they will have to come back yet another day since today is just letting the mudding dry on the drywall. Oh well, what are you gonna do?

Marin is quite the mover and the shaker these days. He's rolling from front to back and back to front, over and over. I even found him on his belly in his crib this morning, when I heard him squawking over the baby monitor. Now I'll be worried about SIDS 24 hours a day. Nice. They have it so drilled in our heads that babies need to sleep on their backs that if you see one asleep even for 5 seconds on their tummy, it kind of freaks you out.

On a totally random note, but I guess it could be considered construction of a confectionery kind---my sister-in-law makes some awesome looking cakes. She took a cake class this summer and I must say she got her money's worth out of that class! It is either that, or she's just super talented in general, which is a possibility since she is a member of this family. :) Go check out her blog and see for yourself. I haven't tasted one yet, but they sure look awesome, don't they?

I'm so dang excited I could burst right now! Someone out in bloggerland has officially decided to follow my blog! I guess now that I have at least an audience of 1, I should be better about writing! Yeah!

BC, if you are reading this, thanks! I just love your dog too! I am not as good as I should be about writing on this blog, by my hubby posts at least a few times a week on Marin's blog. You can always find something new over there. In the meantime, I'll try to be better about posting here too!

Things have been so busy here. It seems like the days drag on and the weeks fly by. My dad says that means you are getting old when you start thinking like that. ha.ha. Well, my quest to start blogging again has just been cut short. I hear Marin crying. That's. Just. Grand.