Also a place to hide the dead bodies

Thank you, thank you a million times over for all your great advice. I knew I could count on you guys. It seems that all babies are on a spectrum of reflux. Eva was on the side of next to zero while Miles is somewhere in the middle. He tosses his cookies fairly often. Poor Eva found that out the hard way when Miles blew a gallon of semi-processed mama milk all over when she was holding him. She's still in therapy because of the PTSD. The biggest problems are tons more laundry and more ass kicking during the night to keep him upright, but there's no colic. That seems to be the kicker when thinking about meds. Miles is considered a 'happy refluxer' and continues to gain weight. In sum, we just have to continue to forfeit the sleep while we wait for him to get bigger and stronger.

While he naps and while Eva and John are at the grocery store I'm going to dot some i's and cross some very neglected t's.

Many of you asked about the artist and song behind the Hatzenbuehler video. It's a collaboration between the groups The Pastels and The Tenniscoats. Totally badass. The song is Vivid Youth (see link below).

For months I've been meaning to feature my sweet friend and carpenter, Timian's, killer work on our office. This room went from a semi-useless, cluttered bummer to a totally radical office/guest room in two weeks. We have three bedrooms, and with the addition of a second kid we wanted to have an organized playroom/office that could second as a guest room. The solution was a murphy bed disguised as a built-in bookshelf. We painted the room a pale gray and hid the bed behind a chalkboard and a few key pieces of Christopher David Ryan's work.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Now I'm off to negotiate with Ferris for a much-needed nap.

Josh Ritter, Idaho

I'll be back to talk about the show in a minute. Until then, please enjoy my new flavor.

Idaho - Josh Ritter

M. Ward, Crooked Lines

This song is slow and drunk and meanders through a keyhole somewhere in someplace. And then it takes a sweet afternoon nap under the golden red autumn leaves in my backyard.

Crooked Lines - M. Ward

Brandi Carlile, Dreams

She has such a powerful Patti Griffin quality but still has a style of her own. This song makes me want to twirl around in circles, arms spread wide open.

Dreams - Brandi Carlile

20 weeks, half way home

20 down, 20 to go! I don't know where to start in telling you how much better I finally feel. I get the normal pregnancy tiredness, but I no longer feel like I'm dying. I'm feeling so good, in fact, I thought I would write a little bit about the good things...the things I love about the changes in my body when I'm pregnant.

I love my pregnant skin. It's normal for most women's skin to get darker. I'm not sure if the melanin gets more sensitive or if it starts to overproduce...perhaps someone out there knows more than I do about this. Either way, I love the color of my skin, the way in glows, how I seem to brown thrice as fast when the sun hits me. It makes me feel gorgeous.

I love the tightening of my belly as the baby gets bigger. I tend to start showing later than most people, perhaps because of my height, so when my belly finally pops out it feels like a welcomed surprise. Hello, baby, there you are. I also love that as my belly gets bigger, I accidentally run into people with it. Whoops! You'll have to excuse the bowling ball in my abdomen...sometimes I forget.

I love the way Ferris looks at me each week I get bigger and bigger. The first half of a pregnancy sucks for him too, partially because the only thing marking the difference is my foul mood and the evil eyes I shoot at him when he farts. Dude, seriously? All of that has passed (no pun intended). Now he looks at my body in raptured awe...the curves, it's purpose, my enormous boobs. Who could blame him, really?

To celebrate my good mood, I've been enjoying the music of Sylvie Lewis. Her music makes me happy.