Addicted to Crafts

Here is my cute magnet board. It is tin and under the paper is a picture of Santa. At Young Women's, we made these. We picked our paper and glued it on. I took it up to Dianne's, who by the way has so many cool craft/scrapbook stuff, and finished it. Glued on the flowers, the FAMILY, and the D. It's going to go in our living room by the door so we can put notes and whatever else we want on it.
This was my next project. I found a cute box at Walmart and brought it back to Dianne's and WALA! I made a cute box for Berkley. Right now it is just holding all her hair things, but when she is older I like to think she will put toys and special things in it. I just used scrapbook paper for the outside and in the inside I decorated it with stickers.

They All Cause Cancer!

I often have weird thoughts or ideas that cross my mind while driving to school or sitting in school, or when ever else I am bored. Normally I discard them, but now, now I have a Blog! So here is my genius thought that came to mind this morning.

The sun that we all apparently rotate around is a yellow dwarf, you know, a star in scientific astrology-nerd terms. Turns out it causes cancer. But I am not here to talk about this yellow dwarf or any of snow whites friends. I am here to say, without any scientific evidence to back it up (I looked online...nothing there), that all the stars that shine down on us at night are killing us too! That's right folks, we all go out at night and have fun partying, jogging, and laying on the grass looking up at hundreds of faraway suns, all working together, very slowly, to give us cancer!

So in these tough economic times, I'm looking for some extra dough, and I have come up with the best idea ever! STARSCREEN! (not to be mixed up with Star Scream of Transformers). Put it on at night when you go jogging or star gazing (which is like staring at the sun! Dangerous!).It will keep you safe from the hundreds of cancer causing bright lights in the sky! For a cheap price I will sell it to you, your friends, and your family. As a good American you should tell them about this, to keep them safe.

So please purchase this once in a lifetime product, by sending me an email or leaving me a comment to get in contact with you about buying this SPF 1 (any SPF level higher would be ridiculous) star safety lotion.


Now in 2 classy scents: Midnight Musk and Lady of the Night.

We Got A New, Hot, Sleek, Sexy...

CAMERA!

A couple weeks ago we lost our camera to a crooked no good thief. I am sure they have gotten whats coming to them... But that's really not our problem anymore.

(I wish the camera could take a picture of its self, but besides that, it does it all!)

My dad (Eric Dahlin) made a very nice "donation" to the Matt and Val Foundation for a New Camera. Val and I are now snapping the best pictures of our lives with the new Sony Cybershot DSC-H50. OK so its not as nice as a professional's camera, but as far as we can tell its about a step below. It's 1080i HD, 9.1mega pixels, can zoom like no bodies business, has a 3 inch LCD screen that even pops out (not really sure why) and even allows you to upload 8 mp3's for your slide shows right there on the camera. There are other rad things about the camera, but I just can't think of them, except the picture quality is phenomenal.
A few recent pictures with our new toy (they dont come up in HD on this no good blogger...):

(From our front yard)

(Bath Time)

(This is growing out of our house)

(Check out them eye lashes!)

So overall Val and I are very pleased with this purchase and it is way easier to see the bright side of getting your stuff stolen.

Berkley at 8 weeks!

She is getting so big! These are pics from Grandma's camera. I'm pretty sure Grandma has close to 1000+ pictures of Berkley. No complaining here though. I love pictures! She is pretty happy most of the time. She is reacting to us so much now, I love it! Being a parent just rocks!

Berkley's 2 Month Appointment

Since I can't think of anything funnier than Matt's last post, I'm going to be updating everyone on how Berkley is doing. I took her to her 2 month appointment today and she weighs 11 lbs 8 oz. She is now almost 23 inches long. When she was born she was 7 lbs. 1 oz and 20 inches long.



The Dr says she is looking good and is healthy. I knew all this going in, but it's nice to have it confirmed by a professional. The lame part of the trip came at the end. She had her vaccinations also today, which was just as hard for me as it was for her. She's not much of a cryer, but she did not like those shots. She had 2 in one leg and 1 in the other. So it made me a little teary eyed seeing her cry like that. Next time I think I'm going to let Matt take her. Too bad I can't take a picture of her today. If you have forgotten, my camera was in our backpack that was stolen. I'm still a little bitter, but our new camera comes in the next week or so! WOOHOO!

My Recent Science Project

Here is the basic layout to the Scientific Method which I am sure we all learned at some influential part in our childhood years. After fifteen more years I have finally used it in real life. During my experiment I learned something, I hope you will too.


DISCLAIMER: The nature of the experiment does contain graphic content, reader beware.

OBSERVATION:
While Berkley is drinking from her bottle (which is practically all the time) she stops sucking on the nipple when she begins to push out a poop. She then resumes sucking without pushing, but soon stops to push again. She doesn't ever seem to be able to do both at the same time.

QUESTION:
Is it possible to push out a deuce and drink at the exact same time (not meaning one than the other)?

HYPOTHESIS:
Hypothesis #1 - An adult can easily do both at the same time, but Berkley struggles as she is still learning how to control her body.
Hypothesis #2 - The body can only go one way at a time, i.e. pushing stuff out or allowing stuff in. But not both at the exact same time.

EXPERIMENT:
I filled a large orange cup with water, went to my laboratory, situated my clothing, and sat down on the can. At first I took a drink of my water, then tried to complete my business while still drinking. I found this to be difficult. I continued to drink and attempt to complete my mission but found it physically confusing. After 2 minutes of trying to do these tasks simultaneously I realized it is not possible. Plus, it is a horrible experience to try to consume things through the mouth while that foul smell seems to be seeping into the very liquid I was drinking.

ACCEPT OR REJECT HYPOTHESIS:
Hypothesis #1 - Incorrect
Hypothesis #2 - Correct, the body can not do both at the exact same time, but it can with even a 1 second break between each function.

FUTURE RESEARCH:
I ask others, in the name of science, to attempt this for themselves and get back to me. I ask this because the experimental population so far is only Berkley and I. Perhaps it is a handicap in the Dahlin genes, not to be able to perform a task like this. Science thanks you for your help and so do misunderstood babies who are trying to do more than one thing at a time.

Who is the low life scum bag who stole our backpack!?

I hope no one has had to go through getting something stolen from them, and until now I hadn't. We took a nice family vacation to Oregon last Wednesday, and were having such a lovely time, up until we picked up our bags in baggage claim at the Portland International Airport. We had 3 checked bags, a diaper bag, and a backpack (which contained....uhem....a black hoodie, an ipod shuffle and headphones, my planner, our SONY digital camera and MY WALLET!) I think I could punch the person right in the throat if I ever came face to face with them. We either left it where we sat to wait for our ride, or someone snatched it and we just didn't notice. But either way, by the time I had called my bank (2 hours later, because we didn't notice it was gone until we got to my mom's and after I called the airport) the criminal had made 5 purchases on my credit and debit cards! And what's worse, if it could possibly get worse, is that my idiot self kept my Social Security card in my wallet too. And I know what some of you are thinking, "How could she do that!? That's not good." and others of you are thinking, "Man, I carry my Social Security card in my wallet too." Well a little advice to those that do, "Don't do it". Take it out right now and keep it somewhere safe at your house. So I will forever be checking my credit report every year, for a long time. Needless to say I spent a very long time on the phone cancelling things and filing a police report. Well I could go on and on about all the stuff I had to do on my vacation, but I learned that to fully enjoy something, you have to let go and not think about the things you can't control. After the 2nd day I was in Oregon, I did all I could do, and I just kicked back and enjoyed my family and have tried not to think about it till now. So....always check you have every bag before you leave the airport.

My beef with Monopoly

So this week at work I've been playing a lot of Monopoly with the boys and there are a few things that bother me about this game. Yes I am getting paid to play Monopoly, as well as snowboard, skate, watch movies, and have awesome discussions with teenage boys. But I digress, lets get back to the things that bother me about this game. It's not even the annoying fact that the game takes 2+ hours to finish, but its all the little things about the game or the way people want to play it. No one really knows the rules to this game, perhaps they read them once and say they do, but every single person has their own twist ($400 for landing on go, $500 for landing on free parking, not having to pick up a chance card if you dont want to take a chance, putting more hotels on a property than 1, auctioning if no one wants to buy the property, trading out of turn, making bogus deals to help one friend and screw the other, etc...). Their is a chance I am mistaken, but I dont like that old Mr. Moneybags has lost the monocle on his one eye. But now it is as if he now has had laser surgery and doesnt need it anymore. But the most annoying part of playing this game (yes maybe I'm a bit anal and I just need to relax, but hey this is my blog) is when someone has to count every single space every time to see where they go after they roll the dice, especially if they rolled a 10! C'mon! The board is 10 by 10, it shouldnt be that hard to just pick your little dog up and move it to where it goes with out having to click each space with your silver puppy. But on a positive note, I haven't lost at work yet.

I can't believe my baby is almost 7 weeks old!

I just can't resist taking a ton of pictures of her. This collage is of two different days and faces. I actually have to give credit to Kirsten Bingham. I saw her do this with her little girl and I loved it!

I just can't believe how much she has grown! Her little personality is starting to come to the surface, and I love it! She is smiling so much and is just the best baby. She loves getting her hands clapped together and she loves giving kisses. Well not the traditional kind. She likes to open her mouth wide open when you kiss her anywhere on the face. We are just so blessed to have such an angel for a daughter.

Oh snap!

So I have a nanny job (for those of you who don't know). And the other day I was playing Memory with the 5 year old. Who by the way, is very aware for her age, and doesn't miss much. She asks a lot of questions, and is a quick learner. So every time I got a match she exclaims," Oh, snap!" It took me back the first couple of times she said it, but then I got a flashback of me saying it about 2 months ago, and then trying to explain what it meant. Well she remembered, and it is probably one of the best things that she says.

Berkley McKay Dahlin

These are Berkley's first 4 days jammed into minutes. And its Val's nine months jammed into seconds.

Why Blog?

So what is it that makes blogging so popular? (man, can you imagine how many articles have started off this way...sorry for the lack of originality) I've never really known much about it, but I would like to. I mean for a guy who has spent countless hours on computer stuff, I really don't know about it. So I've started reading some random "weblogs" on the Internet.

From what I've gathered there are good reasons to blog, dumb reasons to blog, and other reasons to blog. I think some people just want to be heard by strangers all over the world. Then there are others that have a huge following. Others want to discuss the news and politics which can even be done on a "tvblog." Many people seem to want to write about their favorite TV show, Movie, or Comedian. Some people seem to be looking for input on their personal dilemmas. Others want their family or friends to be able to follow what is going on in their life (which I think is a good thing). There are businesses that blog and even creepy people that blog. Some people want to share all they know about cats (which I also find sometimes creepy, you know those ladies with 8 cats... so gross) or toaster ovens. There is just so much to blog about and so many "bloggers."

I think I want to try blogging for a few reasons. One, to keep a journal of some sort of my life. I can copy and paste the interesting or memorable things my wife and I write about to a word program and keep pretty nice records of our lives (I've been told have a journal to look back on is really helpful and interesting). I also like telling stories about my life, so perhaps the few people that one day read my blog will find it interesting or at least amusing. I also think, after discussing it with my brother, it could give me a stronger desire to go out and do something (fun, exciting, new...), because without doing something, what the hell are you going to blog about right? And I am sure that over time I will find new reasons to blog. But mostly, I think I want to try this blogging, just to see what its really all about and see if I catch on to this new phenomenon (that has apparently been around since 1999).