Thursday, January 27, 2011
January 27, 2009
Here are some pictures of 11-month-old Joey hamming it up for the camera. Her hair was unusually curly, which contributes to the silliness.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Baby Name Hints Explained
Over the course of my pregnancy with Charlotte, I dropped baby name hints. Here they are explained.
Charlotte:
has a "boy" nickname.
We might call her "Charley." It's not definite, but we reserve the right.
has nine letters.
That's pretty obvious.
was not in the top ten for 2009.
means "little woman."
is of French origin.
is the feminine diminutive of one of the names of one of her grandfathers.
is also the name of a 19th century queen.
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744 - 1818) was the wife of King George III.
is also the name of a U.S. city.
is also the name of a 19th century English novelist, poet, and governess.
I know you've been scratching your noodle trying to decipher my hints, so there you go.
Charlotte:
has a "boy" nickname.
We might call her "Charley." It's not definite, but we reserve the right.
has nine letters.
That's pretty obvious.
was not in the top ten for 2009.
It was #68 in 2009 according to SSA, and #38 in 2010 according to BabyCenter. We didn't realize how quickly the name was rising in popularity when we chose it, or we might have picked another name. We certainly don't want her to be one of several Charlotte's in her class at school.
means "little woman."
That's according to the baby name books.
is of French origin.
is the feminine diminutive of one of the names of one of her grandfathers.
Paul's dad's middle name is Charles.
is also the name of a 19th century queen.
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744 - 1818) was the wife of King George III.
is also the name of a U.S. city.
Charlotte, NC
is also the name of a 19th century English novelist, poet, and governess.
I know you've been scratching your noodle trying to decipher my hints, so there you go.
When Joey Met Charley
This is Joey's first meeting with her baby sister.
When Joey met Charley from Paul Losavio on Vimeo.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Silhouettes
In the crafting and decor blogosphere, the rage these days seems to be cut-out silhouettes. You know, the vintage-looking solid-color profiles. I've seen fabric silhouettes appliqued on pillows, silhouette Christmas ornaments, colorful silhouettes, silhouettes painted on canvas, and basic black and white framed ones. For several months now I've been dying to create custom silhouettes of my family.
But how? I remember in grade school sitting in a dark classroom with a light to the side of me, projecting my shadow on the wall where my teacher traced my profile on black construction paper. I'm not sure that any of us would sit still long enough for me to do that. My answer was Photoshop: Paul uses Photoshop all the time. He could do it for me. All that we needed to do, I told him, was to take profile pictures of all of us and he could then do his magic in Photoshop. And then we could send them to somewhere to print. I would do it, but I don't know how to use Photoshop. These would make a great Christmas gift, I told him. Hint, hint. To my dismay, my husband never got around to doing this project for me.
A friend shared a link to a silhouette tutorial using Photoshop and I decided to give it a shot. At least if I screwed up, Paul might be inspired to finish what I started. That blog author traced her silhouettes in Photoshop, then printed, cut out, traced on black cardstock, and then cut the silhouette out of cardstock. I decided to use technology to my advantage and cut out a few of those steps. I took profile pictures of the entire family, including myself which was extremely tricky. I then traced our profiles in Photoshop, created a white background, and then colored our silhouettes black. Paul came in after me and modified the proportions and tweaked some other things so that all was consistent.
I'll need to wait until Baby Losavio arrives to complete this project, but here's what we've got so far. I created the collage below in Picnik and I'm really not sure why the background is teal. I plan to have the individual 8 x 10 silhouettes printed on photo paper at Wal-mart because their photo processing is very reasonable. If I'm not satisfied with the results we may have these printed on textured paper at Kinko's.
Now we just need to rearrange some wall space so that we can showcase our DIY art!
But how? I remember in grade school sitting in a dark classroom with a light to the side of me, projecting my shadow on the wall where my teacher traced my profile on black construction paper. I'm not sure that any of us would sit still long enough for me to do that. My answer was Photoshop: Paul uses Photoshop all the time. He could do it for me. All that we needed to do, I told him, was to take profile pictures of all of us and he could then do his magic in Photoshop. And then we could send them to somewhere to print. I would do it, but I don't know how to use Photoshop. These would make a great Christmas gift, I told him. Hint, hint. To my dismay, my husband never got around to doing this project for me.
A friend shared a link to a silhouette tutorial using Photoshop and I decided to give it a shot. At least if I screwed up, Paul might be inspired to finish what I started. That blog author traced her silhouettes in Photoshop, then printed, cut out, traced on black cardstock, and then cut the silhouette out of cardstock. I decided to use technology to my advantage and cut out a few of those steps. I took profile pictures of the entire family, including myself which was extremely tricky. I then traced our profiles in Photoshop, created a white background, and then colored our silhouettes black. Paul came in after me and modified the proportions and tweaked some other things so that all was consistent.
I'll need to wait until Baby Losavio arrives to complete this project, but here's what we've got so far. I created the collage below in Picnik and I'm really not sure why the background is teal. I plan to have the individual 8 x 10 silhouettes printed on photo paper at Wal-mart because their photo processing is very reasonable. If I'm not satisfied with the results we may have these printed on textured paper at Kinko's.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Compatibility and the Zodiac
In a previous post I wrote that it would be neat if Baby Losavio was born January 20 or later because that would make her Aquarius. If she was an Aquarius, I wrote, she would be a water sign like the rest of the family. Paul is Aquarius, Joey is Pisces, and I'm Cancer. Well, it turns out that Aquarius is an air sign, not water. The water signs are Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio. Considering that Aquarius means "water bearer," I assumed that it was a water sign. Not to mention that it contains the root "aqua." Silly me. The worst thing is that for the entirety of my relationship with Paul, I just assumed that we were compatible. It turns out that we're not. Uh oh.
Paul is Aquarius. Aquarius are generally considered to be compatible with the other air signs, Gemini and Libra, and the fire signs, Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. Aquarius are also semi-compatible with Taurus and Scorpio. Unfortunately Paul is not compatible with me or Joey, and won't be compatible with Baby Losavio unless she is born after January 20 and therefore, a fellow Aquarius.
I am Cancer. Cancers are generally considered to be compatible with the other water signs, Scorpio and Pisces, and the the earth signs, Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. Cancers are semi-compatible with Aries and Libra. This means that Joey and I are compatible, and if Baby Losavio is born by January 19, we'll be compatible as well since she'll be a Capricorn. If she's born January 20 or later, we won't be compatible as she'll be an Aquarius. Oops. At least she and Paul will get along.
Joey is Pisces. Pisces is considered a mutable sign, which means that it is constantly trying to adapt itself to its ever-changing feelings and to the moods and whims of others. Pisces are generally considered to be compatible with the other water signs, Cancer and Scorpio, and the earth signs, Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. Pisces are semi-compatible with Gemini and Sagittarius.
Baby Losavio could possibly be a Capricorn. Capricorns are generally considered to be compatible with the other earth signs, Taurus and Virgo, and the water signs, Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. Capricorns are semi-compatible with Aries and Libra.
Our signs are according to the tropical Zodiac. Recently in the news, there has been some fuss about sidereal astrology and the 13th sign Ophiuchus. According to that, Baby Losavio will definitely be Capricorn, as is Paul. Joey is Aquarius, and I am Gemini. That's just too much information for me to process...
Paul is Aquarius. Aquarius are generally considered to be compatible with the other air signs, Gemini and Libra, and the fire signs, Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. Aquarius are also semi-compatible with Taurus and Scorpio. Unfortunately Paul is not compatible with me or Joey, and won't be compatible with Baby Losavio unless she is born after January 20 and therefore, a fellow Aquarius.
I am Cancer. Cancers are generally considered to be compatible with the other water signs, Scorpio and Pisces, and the the earth signs, Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. Cancers are semi-compatible with Aries and Libra. This means that Joey and I are compatible, and if Baby Losavio is born by January 19, we'll be compatible as well since she'll be a Capricorn. If she's born January 20 or later, we won't be compatible as she'll be an Aquarius. Oops. At least she and Paul will get along.
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