Mazzy's birthday party was yesterday (more on that tomorrow, net-net: she now owns an Abby Cadabby, a tutu and the ability to fake a smile for the camera), so this means I have officially freed myself from all birthday related celebrations and can focus on the holidays. Mazzy is easy (hide eight of her birthday gifts to repurpose for Hanukah) but Mike is requesting some sort of tangible photo album that may require actual thought and a substantial amount of time.
ME: What the hell do you need a photo album for? Don't you have a WHOLE BLOG dedicated to the multi-media documentation of your daughter's life?
MIKE: Mommy Shorts is not my Hanukah gift. Sorry.
So I'm gonna start working on THAT tonight and take this as an opportunity to post my fourth episode of "The Mommy Shorts Show". (Or "Mommy Shorts: The Show"; I'm never sure how I should say it.)
It's holiday themed.
Sort of.
WARNING: This is NOT a hair tutorial. I know many of you have requested a hair demo but I fear a video of me straightening my already-pretty-straight hair with a flat iron would be the most boring video in the history of time. I will definitely attempt it at some point. But NO PROMISES.
That clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger at the end is from the holiday classic— Jingle All The Way. The man who fell on the floor at the beginning of the clip would be SINBAD. I put it right up there with Miracle on 34th Street in terms of "holiday movie staying power". (I've actually never seen it, but for some reason the trailer has been embedded in my brain since 1996.)
If you like my show and want to know when I come out with a new episode, you can subscribe to the Mommy Shorts YouTube Channel here.
It would be the nicest holiday gift you could possibly give me.
How can I not subscribe to this?! In fact this wil bring my show watching to two: you and Modern Family 🙂 go get that Elmo Mama!
Okay, how is it that Mazzy looks amazingly… grown up in a tutu and a fake smile??
Oh, I love your shows! (seriously woman, your hair!!!)
Mazzy is ridiculously adorable! My three month old approves of the music in your video. She started flailing her arms in what I can only guess is interpretive dance.
Totally fun! How old was Mazzy when she was running around asking for Elmo? So cute.
I’m honored. Manny is a personal hero of mine.
That photo breaks my heart in a million pieces. It looks like she hates the tutu but she actually really wanted me to take a picture of her because she was so excited about it. It’s the first time she smiled for me when I asked.
Mazzy figured out how to turn on the show on the iPad. I think it must have been amongst her videos and when she found it, she screamed, “I LOVE MOMMY SHORTS!” I was floored. I’ve never said “Mommy Shorts” to her and this was the first time it’s come out of her mouth.
It was in the early spring- probably in March? So she was about 16-17 months.
I love me some elmo too!
Great show, again! Love the tutu! I make shutterfly books for my kids and they are super easy. (thinking of the photo gift to give your husband.) You can actually just upload all the pics to shutterfly.com and they will put them all in a book FOR YOU! Or you can do it yourself, one at a time. Good luck!
That photo cracks. me. up. I laughed my butt off… that is the best fake smile I have ever seen! Too funny Mazzy! You rock!
My grandson takes the worst photos since he can only come up with fake smiles and they are not pretty lol. He has been doing that since about 2 grade, needless to say, school pictures suck. But Mazzy’s smile is hilarious!!
Thanks for sharing her with us, those moments are precious. I could kiss her little face!
I have to ask, maybe you wrote about it somewhere…where did her name come from? My grandson’s name is one they made up from their names, Tony and Erin, his is Torrin. Turns out it is a real name, Gaelic – meaning Chieftan, he is Irish on both sides. Cool huh.
Shutterfly for Mike! Do it. Learn it. Love it. You will become obsessed with it. You can choose backgrounds, stickers, arrangements of photos from 1-5+ for each page, add type to each page. I did one for friends and added in cute and / or meaningful sayings I had found on the internet related to friendship (the photos are of our kids in chronological order). I ignored my kids for days to make photo albums demonstrating how much I love them. That is the danger of the obsession with it. You may, MAY, neglect amusing your internet audience just to do shutterfly instead. If you do, we will understand – but still stalk you by email. Just saying. Now stop reading – start shutterflying. You’ll never look back! (just don’t expect anything to arrive before Dec 25th, for some reason orders are backlogged, hmmm, wonder why).
And … that photo is fabulous! Love the look, love the colour, love how she is in focus and the background is fuzzier so can see it but she is the obvious focal point. Totally looks like a magazine cover. I know the professional photos cost a bajillion dollars and they were very cute too, but this is now my new favourite!!
Yeah, so when did Mazzy turn 5? All the sudden she looks like a girl, not a baby. Is this what happens when they turn 2?
*sniffle*
See. This is where I differ from everyone else on the planet. I can’t make anything with a lay-out easy. I’m an art director! Do you know I had my wedding album returned (laid out by my photographer) and redid it myself at my own expense? I’m a crazy person when it comes to these things.
AH, I see. well then they have a customized area for you (: I use it sometimes and it’s pretty fun. You can even drag your pictures where you want them.
LOVE the elmo party. Those hands? Yikes!
Mazzy is a name I have liked for a very long time. The first time I heard it was probably from the band Mazzy Star. I looked it up when I was pregnant and found out it was a variation on Margaret meaning “precious” or “pearl”. It was the first name I suggested to Mike, he loved it and we didn’t agree on another name for the entire nine months!
Love the name Torrin.
I’ve used iPhoto to make books before- the upside being that you don’t have to wait for photos to upload until you are finished designing it. Is it bad to admit that I still haven’t made Mike’s book? I must get on it!
I know. She looks like a different person there entirely. But I assure you, the photo before and after looks much more like the Mazzy we both know. The just turned 2 version.
The video also did not suck, way to go! Actually I loved it! 🙂 And loved Mazzy on her very first Elmo hunt. My kids would have latched onto every toy they saw and wanted them all to be “mine?”