Son of a b, I missed applying for the World Series of Pop Culture by ONE DAY. I got all the sample questions right. As if I could jet off to NYC, but still, I really think I would have kicked butt in that.

I didn't get the nickname "TV Guide Tina" back in college for nothing.

PS - This Swaddle Me blanket is the bomb. Thank you again Catie! I can't believe how much better she sleeps when she's wrapped up tightly. I was told this was so, but now I know and I worship at the house of baby in a burrito!

If you're not babied-out, I just published more pictures from the past couple weeks.

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Yes, it's true, the little one came home Tuesday - after over 7 weeks in NICU. Which considering she started with an APGAR score of 1, is amazing. She is on many meds, still has lung issues, weighs a mere 4lbs 9oz (which seems huge compared to the 2-2 she weighed at birth), but they feel she is stable and doing well.

Tuesday night was crazy, I think I slept in 10 minute increments. She's a grunter and a squeaker - and with each noise, I had to jump up and chekc her (in the bassinett beside our bed). Last night was a little better, I think I got a few hours, in one hour chunks.

I am convinced that I will never get a good night's sleep again. So much for sleeping until noon on Saturdays. Yes, I am a night owl and a sleeper and I have to be honest, I always dreaded the lack of sleep deal with babies.

Other thoughts and things :
- is this life really entrusted to MY care?
- every driver on the road is a reckless bastard
- what the hell do I put in a diaper bag besides diapers?
- how the hell do I dress this kid?
- what if I'm roasting/freezing her?
- how can one 4lb baby make so much laundry?
- what a little angel, I can't believe she's here
- I can't believe Peppermint Tina, Catie and Lindsay (blog friends) all sent such nice gifties (THANK YOU!!)
- did I eat today?
- is that normal for a baby?
- I wonder what Parkleigh looks like these days
- must... shop... soon... or will burst
- ooh, Oprah's on!
- ooh, American Inventor is on!
- ooh, Top Chef is on!
- finally Chicken Little got voted off American Idol!
- damn, I didn't realize the next season of America's Next Top Model had started!
- I miss Project Runway
- it will suck when I have to start watching Rolie Polie Olie and Blues Clues all the time - losing my tv shows might suck as much as losing sleep
(just being honest about my shallowness)

Holy crap, registering for baby stuff is ulcerating. It literally feels like you are making life or death decisions.

For example, while we were at Babies R Us registering (I LOVE scanning barcodes - boop, boop, boop), we registered for this Papasan cradle swing. It looks really cool, right? And it swings from side to side or right to left. Then, online, I read the reviews:

"Then I realized the swing started smoking, so I imediately took her out of the swing and threw it ousde when the dial part went up in flames!"

"I found her once with her head hanging over the side of the swing still belted in and a few days later my son saw her belted in with her head hanging off the front."

AAAGGHH! So I was going to let someone buy this death trap for my child!

I'm going to go cough up blood now, for I am sure I am going to choose a stroller that is prone to roll away on it's own, find the nearest bar and order Lauren a vodka on the rocks - to be put into a baby bottle that will certainly cause her to need braces later in life.

So with most of my time spent at the hospital, my tv watching has dropped off dramatically. No more FBI Files, no more Cash Cab. But I did catch up on Project Runway in time to catch the last few episodes. I thought for sure Santino would win (and was actually pulling for him by the end). I also got hooked on American Idol and have yet to break that habit. I think Mandisa and Chris will go all the way. And, I'm sorry, I don't find the dorky kid cute or likable. I hope he gets voted off. Maybe when he's 22 he'll actually be cute, but at 16, with that horrible haircut and tiny glasses, he DOES look like Chicken Little and I find him incredibly annoying. Rant over.

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And as for Miss Lauren, she is progressing well and they are saying she may come home soon! She is still little, 3lbs 14oz, but gaining each day. I mean look at the size of that ginormous cheek! She is definitely on her way to being a very chubby baby.

Her little digestive track isn't working so great yet, so she grunts alot, sounding alot like the character Mo Collins used to play on Mad TV.

She smiles alot - even if it is gas, it's adorable.

Oh, and I put up more pix at http://www.kodakgallery.com/tina

Often, as I sit there holding my little girl, I think, "wow, I can't believe she's mine, she's like my little toy."

I can tickle her nose. I can move her mouth up and down and make her look like she's singing I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy. And, I can dress her in whatever I want. And yes, I will be dressing her like fuzzy little animals until she can verbalize her distaste for hats with ears. I'm assuming around age 12.

While little miss Lauren it doing well, Mommy is not. The pain in my leg IS from not one, but two blood clots.

I'm sporting some very attractive compression hose, they'll be all the rage in Milan this spring. Not to mention a chicken-pock looking stomach full of tiny bruises from the shots, which may need to continue for up to six months!

Hubby has learned to give me the shots, not sure I could do it myself. I think he secretly enjoys it. The needle itself doesn't hurt much, but the medicine burns like hell fire! Then Chuck has to put up with my whimpers and whines for about a half hour.

Since we barely have a spare minute outside of being at the hospital, our friends have been amazing at keeping us well fed. Jenny made Teeny Tiny Tuna Noodle Casserole, Aaron made us this scruptious banana-with-torched-sugar-crust dessert, people at Chuck's office made us Goulash and a very yummy homemade Chicken Pot Pie, and another friend, Mike, made us Chicken Orange and homemade apple pie. Many others have also offered to make food and while I don't often like to have people go out of their way, I am taking them up on the offer of food, otherwise Chuck and I would be eating cereal for dinner every night!

Jenny is making beef stew this week - to keep my iron up and get me to eat some veggies, she is very thoughtful about my (and Chuck's) health.

I may be sore and exhausted, but I am still a very lucky girl!

PS - added another photo album to my gallery - this one has videos!

Daddy held Lauren Rose for the first time this past week. My heart just melted to see our little peanut in his arms. She is doing well, though still on a little bit of oxygen as she has O2 saturation dips and a Brady (heart rate dip) every now and then, but this is pretty normal for a preemie.

Mommy, on the other hand, is falling apart. I have shoulder and arm pain, and the latest pain - in my calf - has set off worry of blood clots. Though they couldn't test for it today (everyone had gone home), as a precaution, they started treatment so I had to get a shot in my stomache today. While the shot itself didn't hurt, the medicine going in hurt ALOT. I hope they find it to be a false alarm - I'll take a charlie horse, please!

Oh, I posted more pics too.

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. Most of you know, through Jenny's blog, that I was hospitalized and have had the baby, Lauren Rose. She was born two and a half months early and will likely be in Neonatal Intensive Care for another two months. She is doing well though, looking better each day. I'm sure there will be some more worrisome days, but she is at a top hospital in great hands. I can't wait to bring her home.

I truly believe that she and I are still here today with the help of all the kind thoughts and prayers of many people. I have been so touched by the thoughtfulness of not only family and some truly amazing friends, but also strangers who only know me through our blogs.

We are blessed in many ways and through this, Lauren will be sure to learn how important it is to give kindness to others.

Here are more pictures.

We are truly on a rollercoaster ride. One day things are great and I feel normal, the next day, problems and panic.

So the tv continues. Yesterday was Oprah's Favorite Things - where she gave away thousands of dollars worth of stuff to each audience member. The cool part was that everyone in the audience was a Katrina aid worker who thought they were coming on to talk about what they did after the hurricane. You just have to love Oprah.

She featured these Deeply Fudgey Brownies that had me about drooling. Today I am contemplating spending $25 on two pounds of the fatty goodness. Probably not a good idea for someone who is getting little to no exercise and seeing less and less of her bellybutton every day.

Well, had a "relapse" this week and was put back on bedrest. I'm trying not to get completely depressed and stressed out, as that won't help. Hopefully I just fall into the small percentage of women with unexplained bleeding.

I make Chuck play Scrabble with me, which he doesn't like to do, since I usually win. But he's getting better, he's won a couple times and yesterday, even though I used all my letters and got over 80 points that turn, I only beat him by 10.

I've also been watching alot of crime investigation shows: The New Detectives, The FBI Files, Cold Case. Good stuff. Other than OJ, seems that most people don't get away with murder.

A Note from Buddy

Buddy is back after a long vacation with Jenny, Aaron, and Oscar. He wrote this note:

I luved my vakashun. Oscar is the bestest frend a boy cud hav. He shares all his yummy toys and I only chewed up 1. Jenny and Airen took me to the best place in the woorld, Berger King. They no how much I luv dubble cheesebergers and driving in the car to get thair. I will miss my frends. Thank yu for taking such gud care of me. I luv you.

As for me, the Dr. says I can ease back to work. I'm nervous that things will go awry again, but I will take it easy and take it one day at a time.

Holy Shopping Withdrawls, Batman! This bedrest thing isn't really boding well for my shopping urges - especially when shopping is not just wanted, but needed!

The good news is that things seem to be better and I might be off bedrest this week. I hope so, or Christmas is going to be in jeopardy. I can't seem to do the online thing well this year, I get a bit overwhelmed.


Also, after watching all these food and craft shows, I want to make stuff. I want to make cookies (and then eat them). I want to make glitter snowflakes like Martha. I might even be able to do this on bedrest if I had all the supplies, but alas, I'm not well equipped.

Even hubby can't resist the urge to make. The other night he made Roasted Pears which we saw on Everyday Italian. He watches it because he thinks the host is hot. He also has made cookies twice, but not from scratch, from the package. Still, a good effort.

The View into Martha, Ellen, Tyra and Oprah

Still on bedrest. Third trip to triage yesterday, but everything seems to have settled down and we are ok for now. Hubby is taking great care of me - he is a Saint. I'm very lucky.

TV is still the easiest thing since it's hard to be in other positions for any length of time. The mornings consist mostly of various talk shows - not the ridiculous ones like Jerry Springer - the somewhat more redeeming ones like Martha, Ellen, and, of course, Oprah. Oprah is an amazing human being. Oprah for president!

I also learned that if you're going to be on The Price is Right, you need to wear a goofy t-shirt. And if you're pregnant, don't even try since it seems to be that you must jump up and down like a maniac when you get picked and/or win anything, which would probably cause immediate labor.

The new season of Project Runway started last night too. Oooh, I just love it. There are some great designs - and some that are just hideous.

I'm also pretty up on the Top 100 SNL Moments. Laughing is good for your health.

Food TV is a staple, though I find Rachel Ray very annoying and most often they are making something with fish (yuck). Bring on Paula and the Bacon Crisps for me! (crackers baked with parm cheese wrapped in bacon) or anything involving lots of sugar.

Now I'm hungry - time to call for lunch, "Honey..."

I'm sorry, 've been bad about blogging. So, let me first tell you - it's a GIRL! So girl name suggestions are welcome.

Now let me tell you the drama of the past weekend. Hubby and I were at the airport on Friday to visit the inlaws in Florida but after a trip to the ladies room, had to head to the hospital instead. Long story short, everything seems to be ok - they can't pinpoint a problem, but I am on bed rest until further notice.

Bed rest = bad tv.

Saturday I watched a marathon session of Making the Band 3. Now eagerly looking forward to the season finale on Thursday.

Sunday I watched a marathon session of America's Next Top Model. Now eagerly looking forward to the season finale on Wednesday.

Today, resorted to watching Blue Lagoon.

Kodak One Galleries

Kodak has opened two popup retail stores called Kodak One Galleries - one in NYC and one in San Francisco. They're only open for November. Pretty cool concept. I was hoping to get a gig working the store, but alas, was not to happen.

They've been posting pictures from the stores. It's interesting to see the differences between NYC and SF - mostly in the number of dogs. I can't get over how adorable this picture is!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/onegallery-sf

http://www.kodakgallery.com/onegallery-ny

If anyone lives in NY or SF and goes to the One store, email me a picture (they have the EasyShare One cameras that let you email from the camera)! That would be so cool. Send it to tinashop @ rochester.rr.com (my other address gets TONS of spam).

International Day of Tolerance

I find it very fitting that I share my birthday with the International Day for Tolerance, as I consider myself an open-minded, tolerant person.

An excerpt from wiki:

Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. It is fostered by knowledge, openness, communication, and freedom of thought, conscience and belief. Tolerance is harmony in difference...

Hooo Hoooo

Technically, it's my birthday, since it's now after midnight. Apparently I am rewarding myself by letting myself stay up really late. Here it is almost 1am and I am looking up fare sales on Jetblue even though I am going on vacation next month so not only can't afford another trip so soon, but probably won't even be able to fly in January. But that doesn't stop me from fantasies of going to Salt Lake for Sundance or Las Vegas for a gambling excursion or LA to have mac & cheese at Lola's.

Goldie Girl

Jenny has been giving me some great birthday week gifts. Today I got Goldie nail polish. It's so adorable, I'm torn between using it for my nails and using it as home decor!

Heart Beat

Heard the baby's heart beat for the second time. What a relief that is each time. Find out the sex on the 29th - if he/she/it cooperates. Then we can really kick into name figuring out mode.

So far

- no names from males from my side of the family

- no freaky names like Apple or Coco or Chanel or Prada or Nike

- but nothing too normal, like David (not that there's anything wrong with that name!)

- no Chuck Jr. (though maybe Charlie for a girl)

- Spencer? maybe

- Tucker? no, sing the name game and you'll know why

- middle name Rose? yes

- Wayland? Maybe. During our brainstorming the other day, Jenny came up with that. I actually like it alot. My Dad was a big Wayland Jennings fan. Too bad it's a boy's name or we could name a girl Wayland Jenny. Ha ha.

All name suggestions are welcome!