The Luggage Line

School this year is kind of different.

I'm married (which makes my personal bubble about five times bigger than most of the other students).
I have a baby (so all I talk about is spit up incidents and how I need to get home because my baby is starving).
I'm an artist (and some days I hate my life/career/stupid paint that won't do what I want).

Fortunately, most days, I love my classes and get some projects in with great sacrifices to wife and mother responsibilities. Unfortunately.

 These are samples of a line I made up in one of my classes for a licensing project. The design is tailored towards bags, backpacks, suitcases, and makeup baggies.  I used legs because it is a little weird and other people probably wouldn't do the same thing.

Meh. I most likely would not buy one, but it was fun anyway. All twelve hours of it.

(trooping through storms)

Behind every mommy in school there is a superhero called Daddy.

This is Jake.

He doesn't get enough credit for what he does every stinking day. 

Since I started school, he has single handedly done ALL the chores ,

ALL the cooking,

ALL the grocery shopping,

and watched Talia for six hours every other day.

Plus, he has his own schoolwork and classes to attend.

And yet, he makes me poster sized Valentine cards and little stuffed robots.

Thanks for saving me from the zombies, Jake.

Helloooo Baby

Now I understand why new moms only talk about baby related topics. What else is there to talk about?
Ahem.

 When Talia was born, I found that I had a Mom switch that was now suddenly "on". It mostly involved being OCD about diapers and clothing, and being able to hear/sense Talia 20 feet away. Also, Heavenly Father whispers in your ear a little more when one of His children arrives. It has been so cool to know he pays special attention to flustered and clueless parents who are desperately trying to calm a flailing infant.

 However, some effects of welcoming a baby were a total surprise and took some getting used to...
 2 weeks - feeling like a total couch potato because all you do is sleep and eat and feed that child.

1 month - same thing, except now there are other sounds coming from baby besides screaming.
2 months - first smile!! It's not an accident this time! And lots of blowouts (have many onesies and wipes on hand).
3 months - cut those fingernails or your baby will look like Frankenstein (and so will you).
 4 months - most of the hair around your neck  may or may not be ripped out.

In general, you smell like spit up and you might still look pregnant for a couple more months. But that's okay.
 Because there is an angel in the house. 






A shout out to all expecting mothers:

Have your baby in a hospital.

There are very, very few other places in the world that have respiratory teams in the proximity. Talia was rescued by such a team. However, they have many more resources available that may be critical to your baby's life.
Sure it's expensive and there are doctors everywhere, but it is definitely the safest route.
You just never know.