A good gift

Back in May, when I was 7+ months pregnant and my feet had gotten so swollen they were applying to become U.S. territories, I found a shred of silver lining hiding behind the constant backache and the insatiable 4:00 a.m. hunger, namely: My first Mother's Day and the presents that entailed.

Ton Ton tried to insinuate that I "technically" wasn't a mom yet, but he quickly remembered that I could smother him with my belly and totally make it look like an accident.

"But officer I just rolled over, landed on his face, and he was trapped! No, I couldn't get back up by myself. Oh my God, I think I just had a contraction!"

They would never prosecute me while I was great with life.

So, just like I do on all other major holidays -- My Birthday and Christmas -- I put in my gift request. A CAMERA! A good camera that takes pictures really fast and makes the backgrounds blurry. As you can see, I have a depth of technical knowledge in the field of photography.

I did some research, talked to some photographer friends, and finally settled on the Canon Rebel XS. It wasn't cheap and, upon seeing the price tag, Ton Ton tried to use the whole, you-don't-know-anything-about-photography-babies-are-expensive angle to get out of buying it. But again, my pregnant belly did all the convincing for me. Never underestimate the power of the bump!

In the end, I got the camera and, of course, Ton Ton uses it twice as much as I do. "This thing is amazing," he is fond of saying. And I'm even more fond of replying, "I told you so!"

We got a new lens for it this weekend and I took these shots:

A picture in our poorly lit bathroom that didn't require the use of flash...

Don't mind the angry baby...check out that blurry background! Woo hoo!

The camera was fast enough to catch him before he toppled over...

I can't wait until my first "official" Mother's Day next year; my only concern is that I won't have a giant belly with which to negotiate my gift.