life with baby

Fajita Party

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Brian and I have decided our go-to party theme is all about the fajitas. It was easy, fun, and everyone likes it because you can put whatever you want on them.

One of Brian’s old friends came up to visit from Florida, a perfect excuse for a party. Bonus, we finally got to meet their son Bobby, just turned 6 months old.

He was really mellow (lucky parents!). He loved just laying in the grass.

How could you not love that adorable face and big blue eyes?!

Okay, I should probably back up a bit to tell a better story. I was impatient! Rewind…

Friday night, we cleaned and I washed all of Jameson’s toys in preparation for the party. Brian uncovered some old toys he had collected in the basement so those needed cleaned too (back when we both used to work for a toy company, Brian decided to collect some for the future… he’s such a cutie great dad)

Saturday, Jameson decided to be a sleep monster. What do they say about best laid plans… he slept for a total of 45 minutes all day long. Luckily though he was a champ for the party. He had to go to bed earlier than the other boys but I couldn’t believe how good he was for having little to no sleep.

It was so fun to watch Jameson interact with the other babies like he must at daycare though I never get to see!

I think maybe he’s going to crawl soon? Maybe that’s why his sleep patterns are all funny. Look at this fabulous move, below.

He started doing that this past week, where he spins around in a circle while sitting, getting a leg under himself. AND, he went from the belly position to sitting on Sunday! Perhaps because I had him in the grass, he felt like he couldn’t plop his face down so he did the only other thing he knew.

And finally, a good teeth shot!

Do you like these shots? Dear readers, we finally broke out the new flash we bought for my camera before Jameson was born. I can now get crisp shots indoors without them looking flashed! Just point it at the ceiling and WA-LA! indirect light brightens the room. I love it, I can’t believe I never used it before.

Okay, I am not a pro at it though. This shot straight down flashed at the glass on the fireplace and made it look funny. Some editing made it salvageable, but I was disappointed.

Would you believe that Jameson is the oldest of the bunch? I was going to break out the plaid on him too, to match, but his is dirty. Jameson, Bobby and Jonathan.

Jonathan is becoming so smiley and happy, he’s a cutie too.

Can you believe he started out smaller than Jameson, like this? And now he’s bigger than Jameson!

Bobby was small too: Jonathan was 4 weeks early; Bobby was 3 weeks early; Jameson 1 week early. The boys are getting so big.

But finally, a girl has joined the band! Our friends Jason and Lisa had their baby girl Vivienne Saturday before last (not early). It was a surprise, but Jason said statistically speaking he knew it was going to be a girl, ha. Brian and I can’t wait to go meet her (leaving Jameson behind, you know he’s a daycare-germ-filled-snotty-baby now).

It was a great time with friends. Brian couldn’t remember the last time they had all been able to get together like that. Treasuring these last summer days!

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Reunion Fiesta

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It’s only been two months since I left my old job but I already feel worlds apart. This weekend we had an opportunity to get together like we never really did while I was working there, and we got together and had a family cookout. Plus, Jameson and his new friends Carson and Cole finally got to meet. Carson and Jameson were both born on December 16, but are developing in completely different ways; I was fascinated with observing them and their differences.

For one, Carson is several pounds heavier than Jameson. Though not as big as I thought! Jameson, as I’ve said before, has been pretty ambivalent about food and eating, though he’s finally got the hang of solid foods. Carson loves to eat, and is already adept at chewing off little pieces of fruit. (We tried a sliver of cantaloupe while we were there on Jameson and after being in his mouth for a good 5 minutes he hacked it out)

Carson seemed to have a lot more hand-eye coordination than Jameson did, twisting a spoon in his hand and doing a lot more grasping instead of batting. Instead, Jameson was a lot more active with sitting and jumping on us (parents are apparently free Jumparoos) than Carson seemed to be.

I wonder if this is how parents of twins are, seeing dramatic differences between babies born the same day? And how much of that is personality and how much developmental?

Carson was fascinated with looking at himself in the table reflection, even bending over while standing to get a closer look. He and Jameson did not really interact too much, actually. Though they did have a staring contest or two.

Instead, Jameson was loving and playing with Cole, our lovely hostess friend’s son. Cole is about 1-1/2 years old, so serious whenever he saw my camera (which was pretty much constantly, of course)

Jameson and Cole rode around in Cole’s wagon for a bit and Jameson did really well. Last time he was in a wagon it wasn’t moving and he fussed — clearly a moving wagon is more fun than a non-moving wagon. And it probably helped that Cole was entertaining too.

We had dinner fajita style with 3 different meats and a wide variety of toppings. Megan outdid herself on the food, and even made homemade guacamole. (We’ll have to come by more often) Cole approved of the dessert, chocolate raspberry cupcakes made by Carson’s mom.

Evidence of a good party, baby style.

Hopefully we’ll all be able to get together again to watch them grow. And Jameson is just a year away from being a fun, active little boy like Cole. I can’t wait!

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The Best Age

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I think that this age is the best age — I know a lot of people say that parents tend to think “every age is the best”, but I am not so certain. I think a lot of people think the whole first year is a pain, or the terrible 3’s, and certainly in my opinion the awfulness of teething makes many ages not the “best”.

But after three weeks of fussy generally unhappy Mr. Jameson… I am thankful that he is his usual extra happy self!

Turns out, my initial instinct was right, and it was all teething-related. We didn’t change his formula, as his teeth broke through the very day that I called the doctor for advice! Since then, we have been steadily getting a happier baby until the past two days, when I think he is the happiest, funnest baby he’s been in a long time. Oh, as a bonus, he’s decided that sleeping on his belly is very comfortable, and is sleeping through the night. Cue angels singing.

I’m trying not to countdown until the next teeth start to emerge and generally appreciate the wonderfulness that is Jameson at this very moment.

So just like last weekend, we plan to do lots of this:

And this:

And hopefully a lot of this:

In addition, we are hanging out with Jameson’s birthday-sharer, the son of my old co-worker. We are all having a cookout. Have I told you this story, dear readers? Long story short:

My friend and I found out we were pregnant on the same day.
We found out we had the same due date.
And we then proceeded to give birth on the same day.

One of these days, I will give a “long story long” version, because our pregnancies were very different. And just like our pregnancies, Jameson and Carson are very different. Jameson and Carson have never met, so I’m pretty pumped and yes, I’ll be ready with my camera.

P.S. Have you visited my Etsy store yet? I am looking for ideas of things that I could make, digital products in particular, for weddings and events. I’ve been combing the Etsy site for other ideas and I have a few thoughts, but I’m looking for something unique. Any light bulbs going off for you?

P.P.S. I re-discovered Pinterest the other day, and am addicted once again. I can’t wait until Jameson’s first birthday party. But I’m looking for more ideas for a winter party!

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Vino: Ohio Winery Jaunt

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The day  I have been waiting for for weeks finally arrived; Brian and I left Jameson at his grandma’s house and went out with friends JP & Lisa to the wineries on a co-anniversary trip. We have now decided this must be an annual activity! And Lisa and I decided it will be a little while before we’re drinking wine again. But we had a blast, it was a lot of fun.

We started out at Debonne, our usual first stop. We enjoyed a couple plates of cheese, crackers, bread and finger food basics. The hunks of cheese were sizable and we drank a couple whites wines to start of the day.

When we arrived right around opening time, it was fairly empty, but by the time we left, it had really filled up with what must be the usual jazz Sunday crowd.

Brian and I left with a bottle of Razzberry Riesling (I should say I left with the bottle, because Brian won’t be drinking that fruity sweet rose wine).

Our second stop was at South River, which has always been far and away my favorite winery, in wines and atmosphere. We don’t come here for the food, anyway! The winery sits right against their vineyards, and they have a new pavilion attached to the main building, which is an old church.

Forgive the dark tinge in these photos from our phone:

Our favorites at South River are always their reds, particularly their Trinity blend and Karma. In fact, several years ago we bought a case of Trinity which we have one bottle of left, so of course we had to buy a case while we were there (the $12 a bottle case price is a very good deal, and you can mix and match bottles so we came home with Trinity, Karma, and Semillon, a white wine of theirs that we tried for the first time.)

And a better shot of the lovely South River vineyard, from Lisa’s camera. Brian and I are having a great time!

Hello, random guy who we don’t know!

We then moved on to Harpersfield. This was Brian and my first time visiting this winery. They are known for their whites, and Brian’s parents highly recommended the chardonnay. We tried the St. Vincent since they were sadly out of the cheaper stuff. (Hey, we had already had 4 other bottles, we were trying to go on the cheap!)

This vineyard was a little less polished in terms of decor, but also sits next to the vineyard for some classic photo ops, plus a little two person table that begged for a casually awkward posed photo!

Full disclosure: by this time, Lisa and I were feeling pretty good. After all, we had carried babies for 9 months prior, and had not had a lot of leisurely drinking opportunities for well over a year. But before anyone suggests that we didn’t fully appreciate the wine, I claim that better than many, the taste of wine was savored on our tongues!

Anyway, pictures at this point took an entertaining turn. I’m giving myself permission here to show one funny photo of myself and Lisa, with Lisa cropped out for full effect on my awesome face.

Our final stop was Ferrante’s which is where we always go for the food! Again recommended by Brian’s parents, Brian and I had the seafood alfredo:  “Fresh shrimp, and sea scallops sautéed with broccoli tossed on a bed of Linguine with our Romano wine sauce”. It was a wonderful rich pasta dish to sop up some of that wine.

We arrived home just in time for Jameson’s bedtime, and he had a great time at grandma’s. The little champ has his 6 month appointment tomorrow, so we’ll get to see how much he’s grown which we are looking forward to. It’s going to be a nice short week with the holiday coming up so be prepared for some adorable American pride gear on Jameson!

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life with baby

The Boys

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On Monday, our friends JP & Lisa came to visit with their son Jonathan for a little cookout. Jonathan was born 7 weeks after Jameson, so he’s one of the closest friends in age to Jameson. Jonathan was also born 4 weeks premature. Look at him now! He is almost 2 months younger and he and Jameson are the same size!

(For the record, we did not dress them alike on purpose, but how cute!)

(And I really can’t wait for our new couches…)

Which just makes me wonder about how different babies are. Jonathan from what I gather is a voracious eater. Jameson is just.. ho hum. I’m pretty sure from day 1 that unless he was starving, Jameson has never been super interested in eating.

Take our solid food trials… I have read that breastfed babies can wait until 6 months old to start eating solids, but my old co-worker’s son who is exactly Jameson’s age started early (he is formula fed, just for reference) so we just couldn’t wait to get started ourselves. We did however wait until he was 4-1/2 months old, after we got the doctors go ahead.

And flop. Some days are good, some days are bad. It took about 3 weeks for Jameson to get the hang of opening his mouth for the spoon. I mean he just finally got it recently. And some days are still just bad. I just talked about his love for carrots and what do you know, last night he wasn’t having any of it.

I am speculating again, and we all know that speculating really just gets us no where, but I am just dying to know what’s going through that little baby brain of his. Is it the teething? Was he just too tired? We are still putting him to bed between 8-8:30 most nights, and it’ll vary depending on his nap schedule at daycare, so we do have him go down for an evening nap that we usually have to wake him up from. Ugh. I don’t know.

His 6 month appointment is approaching at the end of this month, so I will be very interested to know where he lies on the percentile scale. Oh well! At least he and Jonathan make good pictures together.

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general life

Schedule Fail

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I don’t know if everyone does this, but typically Brian and I communicate via email and Google calendar. Occasionally I have invited him to things so he can also put it on his work calendar, but usually we just stick with our personal calendars which we share with each other. If we just say something about an upcoming event… we typically (I typically) forget about it.

Which I why I depend on that calendar for everything, and get angry at Brian if he forgets something. This time I forgot.

Last night, we intended to go order some furniture. We need new couches for our living/family room (we have just one room, but I don’t think I’d call it a great room, because it’s not very big). Right now we have been using my parents old furniture, which were and are still in pretty great shape but I basically just can’t handle vacuuming Sasha’s dog hair off it anymore (it’s like corduroy style, which just begs for dog hair to get stuck in it, and remember Sasha is like the size of 3 medium dogs or 6 small dogs). Anyway, we went out over the weekend and finally found leather ones we pretty much settled on (this has been a several month process as we are looking for a specific set: leather, reclining, and a loveseat that also rocks or glides) and they went on sale yesterday at La-Z-Boy at 15% off and free shipping/delivery with their Memorial Sale.

Anyway, I forgot I already had plans with my friend Teresa. Oops! Luckily this schedule fail still ended up well, even though I didn’t get to give Brian the final okay. Hopefully he ordered the right ones. Hopefully. Teresa and I still hung out (and yes, she knows I forgot about her 🙁 ) and we went out to eat. Jameson was a perfect angel the whole time, and I ate pretty unhealthy again. But it was so good. I tried these new Macaroni and Cheese bites, which were pretty much fried mac ‘n cheese and had a tomato soup dipping sauce. I’ve got to remember the “breastfeeding diet” isn’t really going to save me from all the fat I’ve been eating…

So in about 2-3 months (that’s only 1/3 the gestation of a baby, which isn’t that long at all, I have to remember), we will have some new couches. I’m already thinking about new pillow covers.

By the way, do you see that free weekend there? That free weekend is for finishing thank you notes from Jameson’s baptism over a month ago. Another fail.

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Mom’s First Night Away

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There are a lot of moms who talk about how they can’t sleep because they are worried or anxious about their baby. I don’t seem to be one of them. That’s not to say that I wasn’t, because when baby is brand new, sure, there was definitely some paranoid-check-baby-check-baby-again nights. But after Jameson started sleeping in his crib, after I got used to the monitor instead of having him right next to me… it became very easy for me to fall asleep, stay asleep, only get up when baby is crying, and go right back to sleep (though I should add a disclaimer that for the most part, Jameson is an excellent sleeper even though he doesn’t sleep through the night yet he only gets up to eat once usually).

That said, I have kind of surprised myself, because overall my friends can attest that I’ve always been somewhat of a worrywart. I attribute most of this to Brian, who has helped me overcome a lot of that time wasted (though he will tell you I still worry too much). Anyway, right now I think we mesh very well in our parenting styles for Jameson.

When I went on my first outing without Jameson almost a month to the day after he was born, I thought for sure that I’d worry about him. But turns out, either the trust I have in Brian or my new worry-less attitude (probably a little of both), I didn’t care at all, except when my milk said hello. That’s not to say I didn’t think about him (after all, I was at my friend’s baby shower, and you can’t help but think about babies at a baby shower), but I was unconcerned, enjoying myself without being anxious to return home.

Now, after my first overnight trip away from Jameson, I can say the same thing. And I surprised myself again, because it was easy. (Hopefully, that doesn’t make me a bad mom, haha) On Friday I visited some college friends of mine and stayed overnight. We hung out, ate Chinese food, had an ice cream pie for my belated birthday, and had some a lot of wine. I brought my pump, and even though I am not pumping surplus for Jameson and probably shouldn’t have wasted that milk, I let myself have some fun and dumped it in the morning. I even stayed until 11 o’clock the next day. And you know what? Brian and Jameson were both fine. Jameson had his bottle overnight, went back to sleep like a champ. Brian enjoyed spending the time with him and even sent me some pictures of their time together:

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Celebrating Mother’s Day (Weekend)

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This weekend, I enjoyed the company of one of my oldest friends, Emma. Emma flew in for the weekend to meet Jameson. She adored him. This is her favorite photo from the weekend. I haven’t posted the rest yet. She likes the funny look on his face (this was near the end of their photo shoot and he was starting to get cranky!)


Poor little guy is coming down with a cold, so he wasn’t quite himself yesterday. Though somehow he managed to find the energy to plant me a little marigold at daycare; buy me a new Pandora charm; buy me roses and a card. haha


Most of my weekend was actually spent away from Jameson. Emma and I went to Melt Bar and Grilled (her request since she had never been). I enjoyed my Parmageddon and she had their newest permanent menu add, The Dude Abides which has mozzarella sticks and meatballs. We also tried their spinach and artichoke dip which was good and just a little spicy, and a local hard cidar.

I couldn’t believe the days this weekend turned out so nice! We had to walk around Legacy Village and stopped in the new Gymboree brand Crazy 8 store. I got Jameson an adorable shirt with a moving eyeball on it and finally found a nice sunhat for him, with a nice mesh inside for sweat.

We went on many walks this weekend and Brian even took Jameson to the park. I was sad to see the weekend end. Before dropping Emma back off to the airport, we hit up B.A. Sweetie‘s and picked up some candy. What a great place! I had never been there before, but they had all kinds of old-school candy in warehouse style: boxes and boxes of tempting candy and chocolate!

We spent Sunday evening at Brian’s parents for burgers. It was so nice to have someone there to hold Jameson so Brian and I both got to eat in peace, haha. It was a lovely reminder of how grateful we are to have some family nearby for babysitting, watching, or playing duty. And for my mother, I sent her flowers (tulips this year) like I do yearly, plus a new ebook that just came out with short stories by mom-bloggers called “Stories I Only Told My Mom“. I’m rather excited to read it myself too.

This year I’m particularly appreciative of how difficult a mom’s job is! And how nice it is for us to have family nearby, how difficult it must have been for my parents living so far away from family when I was born. Oh, and there was no Internet you know. I love how connected we all are now.


Mom, me, and grandma on Mom’s side for her first Mother’s Day


Me and Jameson, our first Mother’s Day

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Everybody’s Working for the Weekend

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TGIF!

This week went by fairly quickly though actually. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to share some fun news, I am crossing my fingers and toes.

Last Saturday, Jameson visited with his friend Jonathan again. Jonathan is getting so big; he’s also a very hungry little boy! He had 8 oz of formula/milk just while we visited that evening! Meanwhile, Jameson’s pretty casual about his eating (until he gets really hungry like at night). Oh, you would like to feed me now?  Okay, I’m game.

Lisa has to go back to work soon, and I know that’s rough, so we definitely wanted to have a fun night with them before their routine changes again. I think sometimes that’s the hardest part. Not really leaving them (because sometimes it’s nice to leave them, really), but it’s just changing up the routine.

And on Monday we finally got to visit with Carrie and Matt and Jameson’s new friend, Nicholas. Nicholas is 2 months old but very alert. Him and Jameson had a little staring contest, it was funny to see them so aware of each other.

This week was also exciting for Jameson; he got to go in the exersaucer at daycare! The exersaucer is the round toy-filled fun standing seat. It helps them practice putting weight on their legs while being surrounded by super fun toys. So Brian put together our exersaucer at home and put a blanket underneath because even at the lowest setting he wasn’t quite touching the ground. Jameson immediately started reaching for the toys. I have a couple photos to post soon.

I also want to share my new favorite site, Pinterest.com. It’s like a bookmark in that you save sites you visit, but it’s all about the images. So I have some new inspiration boards, particularly for our basement which will eventually finish off, and also for Jameson’s first birthday party (it’s never too soon!)

Tonight we’re seeing Jameson’s great Aunt Carol and cousins. It will be a fun visit! And tomorrow we’ll be doing our longest drive with him yet, to visit his great grandma and more aunts and cousins! It will be a fun filled Easter weekend for him, full of family and up to 6 month clothing (since I finally washed it all haha). And maybe he’ll sleep through the night again? He did last night! but not earlier this week, so maybe it’s wishful thinking.

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Squirmy

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Jameson has been really squirmy the past few days! He’s really starting to move around a lot and always wants to be moving. He’s also been sleeping a lot better — 4-5, even a 6 hour stretch one night. He is usually only getting up once a night right now. I say “usually” tentatively since he could lapse back to old habits any time! But I’ve really been enjoying the extra sleep. His bedtime is officially 9pm, and though he’s sleepier earlier than that, I think that he’ll adjust even better after Daylight Savings Time begins. Next week, we’ll be waking him at 6:15am to eat, and my hope is that he will eventually sleep solidly from 9-6. That would be a-mazing!

He’s grasping, involuntarily, at all kinds of things now. His giraffe toy on his activity gym is easy to grab, as is necklaces, shirts, and of course, hair!

On Sunday, Hollie, Jeff and their girls came over to visit. They were cute, as always. I edited the photos but for some reason on this laptop they seem a little cool colored. I may go back and tweak them some. Anyway, the girls are getting so big, particularly Allison (the youngest). I first met her when she was about 1 — she is turning 5 now.

Crazy to imagine the time going by and Jameson turning 5 too. I had a dream last night that he just went and sat up all by himself. Using only one arm! hahaha But really, I think he’s going to be a quick learner, he is getting really good at holding his head up.

Yesterday we visited the daycare and got the scoop on what all we need to bring. I’ll be dropping that off tomorrow after my massage that Brian bought me when he was in Mexico. Should be lovely! And Aunt Carol will be watching Jameson while I’m away. He should be good for her though, he’s very happy most of the time now, and he’s actually really started liking his swing this week. I think the swing is new enough that it’s still very exciting for him and the swing plus a pacifier calms him right down when he’s upset.

Sasha went to the vet on Friday and her bloodwork showed some liver issues, so she’s on a liver health pill and will get bloodwork done again in 3 months. But she’s officially a senior citizen now which is kind of sad. But she’s still as perky and smart as ever. Whoever said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks never met Sasha 🙂 She’s even learned to hover over her water dish and wait a bit for us to wipe off her face! We’ll see if that lasts though after I go back to work and no one’s here to do it during the day though.

Well, I am off now to go visit Lisa and Jonathan again!

Oh, and for those wondering, I did successfully make dinner on Monday, though I had to feed Jameson in the middle and so Brian did the last couple tasks. But it came out great as usually and we doubled the batch for tasty leftovers! Here’s the recipe:

A Healthier-for-you Restaurant-Style Zuppa Toscana

Brian adapted the recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Restaurant-Style-Zuppa-Toscana/Detail.aspx

1 (16 oz) package turkey smoked sausage (like turkey kielbasa)
3 potatoes, cut into 1/2- to 1/4-inch slices
2 large onions, chopped
6 slices bacon, chopped or crumbled
1 Tb minced garlic
2 cups kale or escarole, washed, dried and shredded or cut (approximate, Brian just buys one bunch and uses it all)
2 Tb chicken soup base (or 5 bullion cubes)
2 quarts water
8 oz heavy whipping cream
2 Tb olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
2. Place sausage links onto a sheet pan and bake for 25 minutes or until done, turning once. Cut links in half lengthwise, then cut at an angle into 1/2-inch slices. Set aside.
3. You can either cook onions and bacon together with olive oil, or I baked the bacon at 400 degrees F separately to eliminate some of the bacon fat and grease splatters 🙂 Cook onions in olive oil over medium heat until onions are almost clear in a large saucepan (I used a big pot and added everything else to this to make cleaning easier). When bacon is cooked, remove from onions if they were cooked together, crumble or cut and set aside.
4. Add garlic to the onions and cook an additional 1 minute. Add chicken soup base, water, and potatoes, bring back to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are softish.
5. Add crumbled bacon, sausage, kale, and cream. Simmer 4 minutes and serve.

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