I absolutely know that baby pictures, to people who don’t know the baby personally, just look like baby pictures. Kinda like dog pictures. Dogs is dogs, babies is babies. (Cats are different and communicate their personalities clearly, even in photos.) You seen one baby you don’t know, you’ve seen ’em all. But oh, boy, I have to show you some more of our little Dyl pickle. (I really don’t know why Joni picked us for godparents. We’ve already given him an embarrassing name and it’s fun.)
Oui, I have eyes!
I saw him three times before I believed Joni had given him eyes as well as starfish hands and a kicky little nose.
Drunk, at two weeks. Shameful, really.
Lala tells Dylan about Guitar Hero and other video games.
Joni says no video games. We nod. Of COURSE no video games. Not at OUR house. Nope. None at all. No sugar either.
This has to be a pop-up because I’m a little embarrassed, but Lala says the accompanying text reads, "Good god, woman, if those aren’t for me, put them away!"
And because it’s a photo kind of day, here’s one of Lala checking to see if we really WILL be able to grill the elephant that we’re going to catch in Vancouver (there are wild elephant in Vancouver, right?).
What the hell? Who needs a grill that big? We’ve been all dreamy, stocking our cunning cottage with things that grownups buy (I bought a wee food processor and used it this morning to make cranberry bread), but no one needs a grill that big, yo. Scary.
Also, speaking of stocking our cottage, this is what I look like when opening gifts that arrive on the doorstep:
(My vest is a thrifted one that says "The Beavers," which I understand is a sports team up north, but which I still find hysterical, much like Alison’s vacationing at Crotch Lake.)
But yes, it’s weird. It’s odd saying, "This is what we want," and it feels like it would be sterile and cold and honestly, selfish, to open boxes that hold what we asked for, but it’s not. It’s wildly fun, but I feel greedy and strange. And I sure don’t like the greedy feeling at ALL. But it’s there. When I opened the red silicone baking pan yesterday from KT, I did a little dance. That’s what I cooked the bread in this morning. When I fondled the gorgeous wooden salad bowls from Gina, I was in heaven. Mmmmm.
Then, a mental slap! Greedy! Selfish! I shouldn’t covet so much. But we do, don’t we? Got yarn? Eh. I’m not quite sure where to put this low-level nagging feeling, so I suppose I’ll keep opening boxes and doing skippy little leaps and pushing the guilt into a corner of my mind to use in my writing later. Yeah! Wait, that’s a selfish thought……
And I’m not even Catholic.
Your godson is just adorable. And the picture of you and him reminds me pretty well of some of my pictures right after nursing ;-).
And hey you deserve to feel happy and enjoy your presents: YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED for crying out loud ;-))
Best wishes
Petra
Oh, man–babies are so much fun. Are you guys keeping him awake too much?
I felt weird about the regestering for our wedding too. It was hard to feel comfortable saying, “this is what we want.”
What was explained to me is that by telling people exactly what you want it releaves them of the pressure of trying to guess. Ultimately your friends want to help set you up in your new life and they want you to be happy with the gift they give you. But I totally understand your feelings of guilt though.
Ladies ~
Do not feel guilty about getting gifts, that is what it is all about, well that and the love. But really people would not send you gifts just because they feel like they should, they send you gifts because you are getting married and frankly we all love you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One could just nibble on Dylan’s little cheeks. Awww.
I hear serving side of elephant at back yard barbeques is the new black. So, you two are hipsters, as always.
And hey, no guilt!! We are all dying to lavish you with gifts, especially knowing we might one day be invited to have an elephant burger in yer backyard. Or rhino, or whatever. So, enjoy. We WANT to give you girls all the fun of gifts in the mail when it’s not your birthday. You two already have all the happiness and gushiness, let us add the material goods. Speaking of, I better get on checking that registry site!! xoxo
Can never have enough pictures of babies. I have a nephew known fondly, far and wide, as Dyl pickle, too. ; ) He’s a much bigger pickle than yours, though no doubt yours will catch up one day. I absolutely LOVE how intently he lookd at you and Lala in those photos. Precious.
There are so few times in life when you are socially allowed to show and share unabashed joy and delight — This Is One. Do it. Please? There are not many smiles as delightful as yours, Rachael, especially when you’re this happy.
Frack the guilt. It only lasts a little while, and you’re ENTITLED, and enjoy it. Damnit, otherwise I might have to slap you. And that would not be ladylike.
He is a cutie-pie! Just adorable. And, hon, you’re getting married. People are giving you gifts because they are happy for you. And, it’s a twisted way into making you believe it’s all going to be easy now. Ha!
Oh, and DUDE! I totally have a Beavers baseball cap for the same reasons! I saw it in a gas station in Oregon, and almost peed myself, I laughed so hard. Boy, they take the Beavers seriously up there, I’m telling ya. I wore it hiking while we were up there, and got LOTS of sports attention. (I don’t even know what the hell sport it is that they play, anymore, but love love love their choice of mascots.) So, when we barbeque that dinosaur on your behemoth grill, we’ll hafta coordinate our Beavers gear, eh?
OMG I have a bad case of baby-rabies right now, you know, the kind you’re afraid to catch when you see adorable pictures of babies and want one of your own. And my case is very severe consindering I am about 9 weeks pregnant already 🙂
Enjoy your gifties, my dears, and don’t feel guilty. We won’t be sending you stuff if we didn’t love you 🙂
I bet that baby was born without the drugs, yes? He has that bright eyed “I’m here” look that indicates he did not arrive on Planet Earth stoned.
What a clever looking little dude.
Dylan is quite a cutie pie and lucky to have such adoring godparents. FYI – the Beaver is the mascot of Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR (not to be confused with the Ducks at U of O in Eugene). It is kinda funny, though. I recall reading an article about a small private women’s college in the midwest named Beaver College that changed its name a few years ago to Arcadia University for “PR reasons”.
Eh, enjoy the gifts and just give in to the greediness for once. I think that’s one of the wedding rules that goes along with the one about how the wedding day is all about the bride.
You two have planned things perfectly — getting married right around the time you buy your house means other people filling up your house for you. We, on the other hand, have to fill ours mostly ourselves, and then come up with things to register for a year from now…
Hey, you’re a bride, you’re supposed to get excited about getting gifts. There’s nothing wrong with it.
I’m SOOOOOO from Corvallis and I’ve been a Beaver Believer since pretty much birth (yes, that’s what we call ourselves up there!) and I am darn proud of it =) In any case, Dyl Pick is adorable and yay for presents and your wedding! woo hoo!
I love the pop-up photo. That little guy has so much character!! I’m afraid you may be disappointed on the elephant front, but what do I know? I’ve only lived here 16 months or so, and elepants are known to be sly, sneaky creatures. There may be some living in our back yard that we have yet to notice.
Of course we have wild elephants here. Dude, they’re out back in the jungle.
You can just ride the dogsled into town from the airport and then the next day I’ll take you on an elephant shoot. No, really.
Oh the good old Beavers. I grew up in Oregon (an hour away from the college) where you couldn’t get away from the Oregon State Beavers! Wear it proudly! Your godson is too cute!! Enjoy all your gifts. People send them to make you happy, not guilty. Much love and best wishes to you and Lala!!
It’s a long story, but for several reasons my darling mother had to skip her 50th College Reunion. She’s a graduate of Bemidji State, WAY up north in Minnesota. Later on we read a description of the festivities and she missed out on her chance to participate in the procession of the “Silver Beavers.” Gads.
“Mom, I’m glad you could not attend!”
“Mom, Mom, the Silver Beavers, get it?”
“Oh, hush, yes, I get it!”
Don’t stop posting the baby photos, he is amazing.
As for the Beavers, I lived in Oregon for 20 years and one time a male friend from California came for a visit and I was watching a OSU girl’s basketball game. He would go into hysterics everytime the announcer stated that the Beavers had scored.
People give you presents because they love you. You are getting married. Go with it. It is fun, and you can think of each one of those things as a little token of the love poeple have for you.
Sorry dear, no elephants to be roasted up in these parts. A buffalo maybe.
The look that Dylan is giving you in the pop-up window picture cracks me up! He is such a cute baby.
You’re getting married, no guilty feelings for receiving presents!
I love wooden salad bowls. Please give them a little fondle for me. Someday, when we redo our cabinets and I have more space, maybe wooden salad bowls will be mine!
Oh man, the gift guilt sounds familiar. I felt the same when we were gettin’ our wedding gifts–but remember, all their generosity means you can better make **them** cranberry bread and other nice things from time to time, right? It’s all for the greater good. Enjoy!
Ah! LOVE Guitar Hero! LOVE! That game is number one on the list of things that are good about having a brother who is obsessed with video games to the point of having to buy them all the day they come out.
Please tell me your condo rented — I keep frelling thinking about it, mmmm condo delicious condo.
Oh golly, cute godkid, he’s almost to the filled-out fattie face stage, which I love!
I’m just nosey … where is Dyl Pickle’s father?
Man, does that kid have personality!!! He’s going to be a charmer, you can tell.
1. Anyone with five children (me) needs a grill that big!
2. Haven’t you heard of Beaver Island, Michigan? Oh my god,when I was in high school my parents when there and brought me back a sweatshirt that said BEAVER ISLAND in huge letters on the front (can you believe they did that?). My mother has a cutting board in the SHAPE of Beaver Island. Yes, it really is an island. Yes, there really are beavers there.
Sorry… we’re fresh out of elephants but there is a hippo. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the weather will co-operate with your wedding. I live just outside of Vancouver and I can recommend places to shop for yarn if you are so inclined. Or perhaps other places for newlyweds to hang out 🙂
The baby is beautiful!
I’m from Beavercreek Ohio….home of the BATTLING BEAVERS! My kids are 9 and 10 and heavily into football, cheer and wrestling, so I’ve got beaver stuff EVERYWHERE! Anyone know where I can find a “Dam right, I’m a Beaver!” bumper sticker?
(Geez, and I thought being a “Sandstoner”–‘Stoner’ for short–was bad! Silver Beaver…hahahahaa!)
Hey…nice ta-tas. Cute kid too. 😉 If ya got ’em, FLAUNT ’em hon! Some people are jealous.
They filmed the X-Files there, anything is possible. Elephants are sly, wily creatures.
Gift Guilt? Gift Guilt? Ahem, shouldn’t you be going more Bridezilla and screeching that the gifts are not exactly to your specifications?
Don’t guilt the gifts. You guys are getting married. It comes with the territory.
That baby is totally cute – having had 3 of them and been around loads of others I can tell you some babies are ugly, some are amorphous blobs and some just come along laden with good looks and oodles of personality. God parents by the way are there to provide lots of fun that parents frown at – your job is to be cool and slightly rebellious. Now go and enjoy your gifts – to feel guilty/not enjoy them completely is to not appreciate them and the givers wouldn’t want that.
be happy. enjoy. it’s your turn! and when it’s done being your turn you spin around and let all that joy rain all over the people around you, share it with the ones you love, and then magically it’s their turn, and so it goes. Thrilled for both of you, truly.
I’ve got your other commenters beat regarding beavers. I grew up in Beaver Falls, in Beaver County, down the street from Big Beaver borough, wherein there was a restaurant, Sadies, that advertised with a billboard on the turnpike that read “Eat At Sadies Big Beaver” (no, I honestly don’t think the double entendre was intentional). The county seat is the city of Beaver.
However, with all that beverosity, our school mascot was the tiger, and Beaver’s was the bobcat.
And I didn’t find any of this funny until I went to college and someone pointed the humor out to me.
I have to say- my son (and I hope this doesn’t offend, because there is no mean spirit in this whatsoever) had a total old man face at birth too. I love that some babies are born so alive and so full of expression. That pop-up picture is priceless.
And I hear you about gift guilt- I had a lot of that when I got married (Shotgun Wedding Guilt), but you just have to go with it. People want to celebrate, and better you get the things you could use and fawn over than….I don’t know, a deer antler chandelier? I know it doesn’t make it go away completely, but just try to think of it as tangible good vibes that people are sending.
I don’t comment much, but like a lot of people, your blog is one of my ultimate faves, and it makes me so happy to read all about the upcoming wedding. Thanks for sharing it!