The photographs have been manipulated, edited, and airbrushed. Thighs have been toned. Cellulite has been erased. Hips have been narrowed. Where are the REAL WOMEN? You know, those of us who don’t look like our bodies are DIGESTING THEMSELVES from starvation. Here is an awesome story I found with pictures detailing just how far the photo manipulations can go.

And I’m not putting uber skinny women down at all. Sometimes it’s genetic, but other times, their desire for mega-thinness is fueled by the desire to be like the models they see in magazines, on billboards, and in commercials. Take Isabelle Caro’s story, for example. She was a model who had been anorexic since she was 13 years old, weighing a mere 55 pounds in many of her photo shoots. After falling into a coma because of her weight, she has finally sought help. It’s still a long road for her, and she says it’s hard for her to get food into her stomach without her body simply wanting to reject it. But she’s finally brought herself up to over 60 pounds. (Click here to watch Isabelle tell her story to Jessica Simpson.) And speaking of Jessica Simpson, remember the brouhaha about her so-called Mom Jeans? Remember how the media called her fat? According to an interview she recently had with Oprah, SHE WAS A SIZE 4 IN THOSE MOM JEANS, Y’ALL.

A FREAKING SIZE 4.

I can’t even get my LEFT PINKIE TOE into a size 4.

Geez. Can someone say BULLIES?

So yeah, anyway, the media sets such a high standard for their version of beauty. And the media’s version DOES NOT EXIST. I’d like to see more real women… not women whose pictures have been digitally liposuctioned. Many times without the model’s knowledge!

It’s sickening. No wonder eating disorders are so prevalent in young girls. But the media isn’t going to change their definition of beauty until we the public, the people who buy their product, do something about it. If skinniness no longer equals sexy and no longer sells the product, then I can guarantee you the media will switch to another method.

Preferably, their advertisements will be more believable.

More real.

And so beauty will no longer be unattainable.

Our cats always seem to have it out for each other… in a very passive-aggressive way. Although the  physical “cat fights” themselves are rare, (sometimes Turbo will swat at Kayli. Other times Andrew will smack his tail into Turbo’s face) the physical altercations are no match for the MIND WARS they tirelessly play with each other.

Take the above picture, for instance. Meeper, the cat on the right, was sleeping peacefully in the cat bed, minding his own business when along comes Kayli (the cat on the left who is attempting to look smug). But instead of finding an unoccupied nook to nestle in, she decided she would usurp Meeper’s bed.

So she just sauntered over to him and SAT ON HIM, using her body fat to push him into a sitting position.

And Meeper LET HER. He just sat up on his back legs, gave her a rather intense Evil Eye, and meowed a few times…  but never tried to reclaim his bed.

Of course, that’s not the only time one of our cats has used his or her body weight to bully Meeper. Turbo is the reining champion when it comes to sitting on Meeper to get his way.

Sometimes my cats are like having a bunch of toddlers around!

I’ve been reading to Nathan since he was itty bitty. I remember vividly during his times of colic, reading Paddington Cleans Up over and over again was one of the few ways I could calm him down. So yeah, he’s always loved reading, and he has his favorite books that he plays with reads all by himself. Even though his “reading” usually means holding the books upside down and gnawing on them, he still reminds me of a miniature scholar the way he concentrates so hard on the words and the pictures.

Both Paul and I love to read and are hoping that Nathan will continue this trend as he grows. But I think I’ll wait until he actually grasps the concept a little better before I tell him when he’s holding the book upside down. Because it is TOO CUTE, y’all! He’ll hold the book upside down and continue to “read” it as if there is nothing in the world even a little bit strange about it.

 I am seriously loving watching this little guy grow up and learn new things.

Remember how a few days ago, I was talking about Mommy Brain?

Well this evening, I was making dinner, and part of the meal consists of microwaving a small bag of rice for 2.5 minutes. So as the rice was cooking, I stood near the stove, alternately stirring the vegetables in the frying pan and talking to my husband. When the microwave beeped to signal it was done, I opened the microwave .

Only there was no rice in the microwave. It was empty.

EMPTY!

I had left the rice on the counter and had proceeded to cook nothing but AIR for two and a half minutes. AIR! And I was completely astonished when I opened the microwave and saw it was empty because I thought for sure that I had put the rice inside it.

In fact, I could REMEMBER putting the rice in the microwave.

But I was wrong. The rice was sitting in plain view on the counter, patiently waiting to be microwaved. My mind was only playing tricks on me because even though the rice was in plain sight, I somehow managed to not see it the ENTIRE TIME I thought it was cooking.

Now THAT, folks, is a total case of Mommy Brain!

It’s a little longer than the length of video I normally post (two minutes) but it took him a while to move down the coffee table to the recliner.

It’s so cute!

He’s decided that he’s going to figure out some way to touch all the things I say he can’t touch, which includes the entertainment center. When he crawls up to it, I always say Don’t touch that, Nathan. At first, he would touch it anyway, resulting in him being moved to another place in the living room. So then he got to where when I would say Don’t touch, he would plop down on his bottom and stare sadly at the off-limits item for a few minutes before he would forget and try to touch it again.

But now, my little guy is trying to outwit me.

Now, he KNOWS what is off limits. So now, instead of directly touching something he knows he’s not supposed to, he’ll get his index finger as close to it as he can WITHOUT ACTUALLY TOUCHING IT. For instance, he knows everything on the entertainment center is off limits, but he tries to test me by putting his finger A HAIR AWAY from the off-limits object, like the DVD player or the DVR. He won’t actually touch it, but it will be MILLIMETERS from actual contact.

FREAKING MILLIMETERS, GUYS. So close that at first glace, it looks like he’s actually touching it.

Yes, he still gets reprimanded for it. I tell him if he can’t actually touch an object, he can’t FAKE TOUCH IT, EITHER.

So then, once he figured out that he can’t FAKE TOUCH what’s off limits, he started touching them WITH OTHER OBJECTS. I’m sure he’s thinking, well, I’M not touching it… my (toy, stuffed animal, etc) is touching it. So he’ll take one of his toys and will use it to touch the items that he’s not allowed to touch. Like his toys are becoming his FINGER PROXIES.

AND HE WILL LOOK RIGHT AT ME WHILE HE’S DOING IT.

As if to say, Look mom! I’m not touching! I can’t get in trouble if I’m not physically touching it!

Yeah,  Nathan. You can’t do that either, my mischievous little guy. You cannot make your toys into proxies on your behalf, son.

He’s definitely in the Boundary Testing Phase. He knows, KNOWS, that he’s not allowed to touch certain things, and yet he tries to find loopholes in the rules, looking for other ways he can touch said object. Or trying to see just how close I will let him get to touching it.

I have my hands full with this little guy.

Speaking of growing up, guess what Nathan did on his birthday!

HE PULLED HIMSELF UP. ALL THE WAY!

Before now, he would attempt to pull himself up but would only make it halfway before plopping back down with a thud. But he did it, he pulled himself up into the standing position!

He only just started crawling not even two weeks ago. I wonder how soon it will be before he takes his first steps and starts cruising on the furniture.

So here’s some super cute pictures of his very first birthday for you to enjoy.

About to unwrap one of his gifts

Look at what I did!

I don’t know what this is, Mommy, but it looks fun!
(It’s a ride-on and walk-behind dump truck toy)

Not sure what to think about his miniature birthday cake and the well-out-of-reach candle

But he definitely didn’t like when we blew it out

Paul gave Nathan a bite, hoping he would like it enough to eat it

But Nathan did not like the cake.

So Nathan still isn’t big on “people food” yet. He still likes his food pureed, so we weren’t all that surprised when he didn’t like his birthday cake. Which is why we gave him a small bite to start off with. But Nathan still let us know in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t happy with our trickery.

NOT ONE BIT.

But even with a few tears here and there, his first birthday was a lot of fun. Well, Nathan had no idea what all the fuss was about, but all the adults really enjoyed it.

There’s always next year for the Messy Cake Picture, right?

It happens once you have a baby. Something happens to your brain. I don’t know if the lack of sleep mixed with raging hormones causes the brain to… oh I don’t know, EAT ITSELF… or what, but something happens and you start to do things.

Weird things.

Nonsensical things.

BIZARRE things.

Like leaving the house with mascara on only one eye. (ONE EYE!) Or losing your keys and later discovering them in the freezer. Or putting the milk in the cabinet instead of the refrigerator.

Yes, I have done all of those.

Well, I totally have a case of Mommy Brain since Nathan was born. Have you ever heard the saying so-and-so would forget her head if it wasn’t attached? 

Well, guys. I AM SO-AND-SO.

I am THAT person who would totally forget her head. Thank GOD they aren’t detachable, right?

I mentioned before that my OCD has malfunctioned. Yes, I used to be that person who always had everything all nice and neat and perfect. Everything was exactly where it should be. Things didn’t get misplaced all too often.

But now, Mommy Brain has taken over. Ever since Nathan was born, I’ve been so very forgetful and… I think you could even say SCATTERBRAINED.

Just the other day, my husband made a pot of coffee. Now, I love coffee even though I rarely drink it. Paul makes a his own blend at the store, and let me tell you, it is FABULOUS with some whipped cream and chocolate syrup. WATCH OUT, STARBUCKS.

So anyway, Paul made coffee the other day and it smelled so good that I could have eaten the AIR. I raced to the kitchen and poured myself a generous cup of coffee, complete with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. I retreated into the living room to enjoy my treat when Paul was all like, baby, what’d you do with the pot of coffee? And I was like, it’s right there in the COFFEE MAKER, duh (complete with a know-it-all lilt.) He was like, no it’s not- oh wait. There it is, on the stove eye. THE STOVE EYE. You put the coffee on the STOVE EYE.

I’m sure, my friends, I will have many more of these stories to come.