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Neatoramanaut pnutandsamsmom, who is also Michelle McCrary, the author of Dead Set: A Zombie Anthology, posted this video of her twin girl cousins giggling at the antics of their sister. You can't watch this without smiling yourself! -Thanks, Michelle!

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A little boy in Stockholm plays changing of the guard, so a Swedish Royal Guard plays along. -via Arbroath

Photographer Phillip Toledano (featured previously) speaks honestly about his new baby girl and the feelings he had as a new father. It was a rough start, as many fathers know.

Some men deal with their baby rage by drinking or playing video games.

I made plates.

I thought it was high comedy, but Carla was not so amused.

For the longest time, when people asked me to see a photo of Loulou, this is what I'd show them.

I liked not showing the usual cherubic photo. An adorable shot of Loulou poking her head out of a casserole pot, or something similarly bilious.

Does ever baby picture have to be sweet and beautiful?

Things changed as time progressed. Enjoy this photo essay by clicking the pictures or text to advance. Link -via Metafilter

Looking for a cheap way to keep your kids busy, happy, and productive? Think about investing a few dollars in "end rolls". Trent Hamm of The Simple Dollar explains.

At the end of a newspaper print run, quite often some of the spools will have a small percentage of the paper still on the roll, unused. Because it’s more expensive to have to stop the press and change the roll mid-printing, the people running the press will just remove that mostly-used roll (still with hundreds of square feet of paper on it) and replace it with a full roll, so that the next time the press fires up (for the next day’s paper), they won’t have to stop it early on to replace the roll.

So what do they do with those leftover rolls? They hand them over to their front office, which sells them to the public for just a dollar or two. Seriously – stop by the office of your local newspaper and ask about end rolls. Most newspapers sell them, and what you’ll receive is a large roll of blank newspaper for just a dollar or two.

He then lists 15 projects you and your children can do with this paper, and there are more in the comments. http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/09/11/fifteen-ways-to-have-cheap-fun-with-your-kids-using-a-1-end-roll-of-paper/ -via Neat New Stuff

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A cute toddler discusses Billy Idol, global warming, everyday stress, and cats. -via Buzzfeed

Neatorama author Stacy Conradt gave birth to her first child at the beginning of the summer. Her blogging understandably slowed down while she was on maternity leave, but she posted some thoughts on how motherhood has changed her life.

1. As long as I have a small child, the topic of conversation will eventually turn to bodily fluids and/or functions.  It's true. I was even out at a bachelorette party last weekend and Paul sent me a picture of a particularly good (or BAD) diaper. I said, "Aghhh, I can't believe Paul sent me a picture of poop!!" and then I promptly sent the picture around the table. And when you manage to get spit up down your shirt and in your bra, c'mon, that's funny. You just have to share that with someone.

6. I will try really hard not to judge the way other people raise their kids. I'm totally guilty of judging what people were doing with their kids before I even had any. I thought, "Why wouldn't  you breastfeed? It's so much better for your baby." Um, the answer? Because it's HARD. It's time-consuming, it's stressful not knowing how much the baby is getting, or if it's the right kind of milk, or if what you're eating is hurting her stomach, and being the only one who can get up in the middle of the night with her. And now I would never fault anyone for using formula. You have to find a good balance between your stress level and your guilt level. Mine is this: nurse when I can, but supplementing with formula is just fine. That way I'm not stressed about all of those things but I'm not feeling guilty because she's not getting all of the awesome benefits of breastfeeding. It's not all or nothing! You can compromise! And speaking of breastfeeding…

Experienced moms will say, "Yes, yes, yes... welcome to the club!" Read all ten items at i met a possum. Link

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A Sheltie puts on a show for an appreciative audience of one. -via Arbroath

One of India's fastest-growing industries is surrogate pregnancy. Hundreds of Indian women are implanted with embryos from foreigners every year, because their services are cheap, and up until now there was little red tape to the procedure. However, lack of legal oversight causes its own problems, such as the case of the German twins who couldn't get visas to enter their parents' country for a year. New legislation will put some restrictions and regulations into place. Dr. Nayna Patel is the medical director of a fertility clinic in Anand, Gujarat.

Patel chooses among the women who appear at the clinic, at least three a day, hoping to hire out their wombs. She pairs the surrogates with infertile couples, catering to an increasingly international clientele base — from 13 foreign couples in 2006 to 85 in 2009. And she oversees the negotiations between them. The entire process costs customers around $23,000 — less than one-fifth of the going rate in the U.S. — of which the surrogate mother usually receives about $7,500 in installments. Patel implants the women with embryos, using specimens from sperm or egg donors if necessary. Once pregnant, the surrogates are housed onsite until delivery, in a dormitory that was once a local tax office, so that they can be supervised. But under the new legislation, Patel will be permitted to supervise nothing but surgery.

Under the new rules, surrogates will be able to negotiate their own rates and will receive health insurance. And children must be guaranteed citizenship from the patents' country before the procedure can be done. Of course, once the exploitation factor is gone, prices may rise and bargain hunters may have to look elsewhere. Read more in this TIME article by Hillary Brenhouse. Link -via Digg

(Image credit: Ajit Solanki/AP)

Neatorama author Stacy Conradt gave birth to her first child yesterday. Mother, father, and baby are said to be doing fine. Lydia Louise is lookin' good!

As you can see, it took grandma to get her to open her eyes for a picture. See another picture at Neatorama.

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Read all the innuendo into it you want, I think this announcement using Star Wars video is awesome! I won't spoil the ending for you. -via Geeks Are Sexy

You can easily go from holding and rocking your baby to rocking while you read, knit, or use your laptop with this lovely furniture piece from the design company Ontwerpduo. http://www.ontwerpduo.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=170&Itemid=125 -via Swiss Miss

(image credit: Marly Gommans)

My name is Josean Rivera, I'm a Philadelphia based artist/educator.  My work is of a peculiar nature in various mediums, mainly drawings and paintings.  Influenced by an interesting childhood in Italy, an obsession with dinosaurs, girls, and skulls, my work combines and explores these themes.  Although I work in different mediums and subjects, these themes are evident and revisited, creating new and strange imagery each time.*

Hello there!

My name is Randy Bishop. I'm currently still in school studying illustration. I would REALLY like to work in the entertainment industry as a character designer for animated films. I would also really like creating book covers. That would be fantastic!

I usually start an illustration with a drawing which I scan in and then paint digitally. I've tried several different methods for creating art, but this is my favorite. I'm still in school, but I'm definitely on the lookout for ANY potential jobs or clients.

You can visit my blog at randybishopart.blogspot.com or email me at rdalebishop@gmail.com for any information.

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy my stuff!


Vincent

Hi there

My name is Sam Branton. I graduated from the Norwich School of Art in 2007 and have since been a working artist based in Oxford. I’m really interested in the relation between traditional drawing styles throughout art history and contemporary childish cartoons such as Ren and Stimpy and Anime. My work often combines these two leaving quite striking images. I think there’s a nice contrast between the sophisticated smartly attired figures standing proudly amongst these creatures which look sweet and innocent at first but on closer inspection can appear rather menacing and perverted.

Since leaving Art School I have been lucky enough to be included in some exciting shows, showing work in London, LA and Stockholm.

Here’s a collection of different pieces, I hope you enjoy them.

So, what would you little maniacs like to do first?

Hello Neatorama readers!  I'm thrilled to get to share my work with such a clever and cool group of internet-folk.  I am a mixed-media artist specializing in vintage book carvings.  I am a scientist by trade and have always enjoyed the visual elements of science (graphical representations of data, figures of theoretical models, diagrams of complex systems, etc).  People often focus on the information these elements contain, rather than appreciating their aesthetics.  I started carving books to draw attention to their beauty rather than their content.  I have made carvings that display the illustrations the books contain as well as some that depict topographical landscapes and "specimen boxes" that hold paper butterflies

Some people give me grief about destroying old books, so I think it is important to make clear that I love books, too!  Because of this, I only use books that are no longer appreciated  for their content, and I never carve rare or new books.  I've deliberately put down books (that would have made lovely carvings) if I think someone is likely to appreciate them intact.  My favorite subjects are reference books that are several editions out of date, rescued from garage sales, free giveaways, and second-hand shops.  Although most people aren't interested in these old books for the information they contain, carving them gives them a second chance to be of value.  My weapons of choice are exacto knives, rotary cutters, tweezers, rulers, pliers, files, custom cut panes of glass, and lots of glue.

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