This I Believe

Thought I'd share with you my essay for our "This I Believe" project at school.  The kids turned in their essays Monday (would you believe I have an almost 100% turn in rate on these?  The only kids who haven't turned it in have been absent all week!).  I decided to make sure I had a sample for them that wasn't so serious--since they get frustrated listening to the NPR program because they don't have anything "profound" to talk about.

I thought this was kind of funny, since I just focused on my epic fail at Call of Duty.  But it struck a cord!  They loved this example and they're excited to start working on their own videos!

A KeepSake Scrapbook

Oh scrapbooking.  I've always loved making scrap books.  I like to document trips, pets, people, life.  I wanted so much to make an epic ode to Claire that one day she could look through and see how much she was loved.  I know the trend now is to do this all digital and make sleek coffee table books, but to me it just doesn't seem personal.  Some day, Claire will appreciate looking at the small details--my handwriting, her medical bracelet from the hospital, the napkins from her baby shower... those are the memories I want her to experience.  Not some sleek disconnected book of pictures.

I currently have two books running for her.  One is a standard "memory" book that has more writing than pictures.  The other is a 12"x12" Creative Memories full fledged scrapbook:

The books in question.  I need to replace that picture in her Winnie the Pooh memory book with an actual picture of her.  The things we never get around too, eh?

Here are our memories written out so far:

For some reason, I really don't want you to read what I've written here.  My mom kept a similar book.  It kind of makes me teary now to read such loving comments.

And these are some snapshots from  her scrapbook (which I HAVE started, I just haven't gotten past the part where she was born...)
The first page is made up of our name tags from our birthing class and a studio picture of her (in one of my hats, of course).  I do a bit of stamping (as you can see) but I prefer handwriting everything.  You can't notice all the details, of course, but the shiny things on the label are actually decorations from the shower.  I use them throughout.  So crafty!

I prefer Creative Memories scrap books--the pages lay flat and they have page protectors that are easy on and off.  So I can keep adding random things.

The baby shower--sure this book is ABOUT Claire, but one of my regrets is that I don't have pictures of my mom pregnant with me.  Well, I'm sure there are some floating around, but I'd never know.  So I made sure she got to see some of the lovely details--the cute invitations, her giant cake, her giant mommy!

I've always liked using things like napkins and cards for scrapbooks.  I think it makes them more real.  And gives them the true flavor of a "scrap" book.

Claire's birth page.  On here I have both of our hospital bands, pictures of me "sort of" in labor, and of course, all those first pictures from her arrival. 

I just recently reunited with my band from when I was a baby.  This might not seem important to some, but it made me sad in a happy way. 

And some more hospital pictures and some of Claire's swag waiting at home.  I put some of the crafty items I made in there (since I still treasure the blanket my mom made for me when I was born).  I also cut out pictures of her diapers and used those to decorate the page.  I just thought they were too cute, but I didn't want to waste the space... so I cut them out and used them to fill in blank space. 
 
 So that's pretty much as far as I've gotten (hence the whole, almost three months behind thing).  I have some pictures ready to slap down, but I've always got the issue of... I need to print more pictures!  I have a printer that does pictures, but unfortunately, I never buy picture printer paper, and I really don't like the quality of those pictures anyway.  Well, I have a new printer, I should try, but alas. 
Again I reiterate.  Sure, it'd be so much easier (and far less costly) to simply use an internet based site and make a book.  I've even done this for my dear mother's brag book (and the gift looked AWESOME).  But there's something about the love that goes into this, and the time spent.  Some day, God forbid, I will no longer be with 50+ year old Claire, but she'll be able to look back through this book and remember how much her mother loved her.  And that's what scrapbooking is about to me:  Leaving these memories in hopes that some day she'll need them, when I can't be there to share them with her. 

Craft Room Clean Up

Christmas.  Baby.  They sure have a way of ruining a craft room!  I'm so lucky now to have my own room for crafts.  Sure I could all-purpose it, or give it to visitors, but this is my house.  I have never had the opportunity to create my own space for my messes (er... projects).  So I did.  So that's why if you ever spend the night here,  you're sleeping on the couch.
      But as you can see, my room has become a disaster.  Scraps of projects past, plus little this's and that's... all over. 

Somewhere, under this mess, there is a whole wooden table.  Kind of like Where's Waldo, no?

          My giant table, which is so ugly, is beautiful for working on.  It's sturdy.  Already scratched up.  Perfect for cutting fabric, scrapbooking, sewing, ironing in a pinch (but I have an ironing board.  I'm just that lazy).  

See?  I DO have an ironing board.  It's right by our guitars that never get played... Oh... guitars.  Post on pause...

            *rocking guitar solo* I'm back... So I spent my morning getting some stuff taken care of.  I have diapers that need refreshing (some of our used BumGenius diapers are desperately in need of new tabs (whole other post)), I have scraps that need sewing, baby outfits just itching to be made--I'm almost three months behind in my baby scrapbook (and she's almost three months, so you see the problem here).

Lurking in the corner by my massively old TV, and the props from the baby photo shoot.  I need to find a home for everything.  Oh wait.  That's why they're there in the first place--home sweet home. 

          Scenes like this all over the room--scraps from past projects (remember those lovely bags?) just waiting for use.  Or the trash.  What will become of them?   (the suspense)

I spy with  my little eye... camo flannel, for more flannel wipes?

             Larger scraps found a home in my new fabric drawer.  Sure I could cut everything into squares.  Or fat quarters.  But you never know.  So I've got big pieces in here.  And then, after reading many crafting blogs, I decided to make a true scrap bin.  To keep!  This basket is full of odds and ends, really too small for anything except something intentionally made of scraps.  I'm thinking a pot holder.  I'd make a small quilt (like another carseat blankie) but they're not very coordinating.  So I dug through my trash and began to sort:

It's like the foster home of fabric.

 And then Matt stumbled on the motherload stuffed in a giant Christmas bag!

The scrap bin overflow-ith

          What's in there?  Flannel too small for wipes.  Flannel backed satin.  Scraps of all the colors of the bags.  Scraps from my sock-to-legwarmers project.  I think I have enough satin flannel to make Claire a pair of pants... but what >1 needs a pair of pants like that?  No stretch.  Kinda sexy.  Wrong wrong wrong.  Maybe I'll make a pair for Wally--I can use my button-hole-er to put in a tail opening... tempting.

Not a Knitting Zone

          My crochet items also found a home (instead of their temporary one underneath my end table in the living room.  I took all my PDF patterns and put them in a nice little binder and sorted out all the balls of yarn.  Luscious.  Makes me want to jump in and crochet a sweater of many colors.  Or another hat... NO, I said I wouldn't make another hat--stop me you temptress... but I might buy some of those cute patterns going around that look like owls.  Claire needs a trendy owl hat.  

Glad you took a picture.  This never lasts long.

         Finally, after much distraction, I have a clean working space.  Notice my awesome purple Brother (Wal-Mart special) sewing machine.  Some day, when this beloved friend blows up, I might invest in something a bit more expensive.  But this has all the features I love.  Threader, thread trimmer, digital settings.  Buttons that make me stitch backwards, and lift the needle... it even tells me what foot I need for a particular stitch (and COMES with all of the feet... foots?  so I don't have to buy any more).
         You can also see my scrap bin, right at my feet.  My sewing box.  My keep all for pens and scrap booking.  It never gets cleaner than this!  Now you know where the REAL magic happens!

Momma Hat!

Call me jealous.  I wanted a crocheted hat, too!  I've made so many baby hats, perhaps I was a bit cocky on my hat skills, but at least it turned out well enough to fit on my head.  I won't say where I got the pattern from (it's on ETSY) simply because I have several beefs with the pattern.

It looks so harmless sitting on the counter.  Like it couldn't leap up and strangle me at any second.

1.  It starts from the bottom up.  I find that hats look much nicer when they start from the top down.  I don't know why, but I've made enough hats to know this.
2.  NO STITCH COUNTS.  I got one count.  That was the chain for the first row.  From then on?  Not one.  Now, I guess if I was better at math, I could go ahead and do all this myself prep-wise.  But I didn't.  It doesn't really matter on the parts that don't decrease, but when you start decreasing, and it's just, skip this many stitches all the way around... why don't you tell me how many I should have?  Just so I'm sure.  Every other pattern has that!
3.  Reverse crochet/triple crochet... should be enough said, but if I'm speaking Greek to some of you, well, the pattern was speaking Greek to me, too!  I had to keep getting on youtube to watch tutorials on these stitches, but since they weren't normal (like, reverse, but only in one side of the stitch... which side?  Hell if I know).  I figured it out by ripping out a lot of stitches.  I'd try one way, then the other, than decide which was correct.  Luckily, the step was repeated a ton of times, so once I had it figured out, it made the rest pretty simple. 

All in all, I made the hat, it looks okay, and it's warm.  I'm NOT happy with this pattern at all.  For a long time I wasn't sure it would turn into a hat at all, and all the confusing directions were meant to keep you from finishing it and thus figuring out the pattern was a complete sham.  I mean, I can crochet.  I can read patterns... why does it have to be made harder?

In Soviet Russia, HAT wears YOU!

And I think I look like a bad Russian stereotype in it.  Although Matt thinks it's cute.  And it's comfortable and warm, so on my coldest days, I don't mind.  Don't think I'll be making THIS hat, or any hat for ME in the near future.  I need to forget this experience!

My Delicious New Scarf!

Crochet is a new hobby of mine.  I've crocheted quite a few baby hats before this point, but I haven't really had a use for my skill outside of that arena.  Perhaps because a lot of those crochet clothing patterns look a lot like something my grandmother would have made for me, and I would have smiled and thanked her and shoved it in the depths of my closet never to see the light of day again.  But I also have a thing for scarves.  I have this black scarf I was eyeing the other day, and I realized (and remember, I'm still running on new mommy brain, so this realization might be a big "duh" to everyone else) that the scarf was definitely crocheted!  So, could I make one?  I hopped on ETSY and bought a pattern for a Grande Circle Scarf from I'll Be Yarned's shop.  The scarf comes in three sizes and basically is just a regular scarf sewn together (so I guess there are 6 scarves patterns--sewn and not sewn).

Don't let it fool you, this scarf would kill you and everyone you loved if it had the chance. 

This is the medium size scarf.  I bought my yarn earlier today for my new scarf and for a pattern for a hat.  Now, they are both wool, but different sizes... and wouldn't you know, the freaking yarn company doesn't have matching colors in the two sizes!  So my hat will end up being charcoal, like my coat, and my scarf is a gray mottled color.  I like both colors.  I'd like them better if they were the same color.  But at least they had neutrals at all... I could have ended up with some wonky colors and then where would I be?  (Well, wherever I was, I'd be wearing a wonky colored scarf and hat).
And you heard me, I bought the yarn today.  A lot of teachers would insist today they made a difference, that's what they made.  Well, I don't know about all that, but I definitely made a scarf today!  I picked the medium size from the pattern (yes, there is one even BIGGER than this, I can't imagine).  It wasn't very hard.  The pattern was nice, because it at least told me how many stitches, size of yarn, and size of hook.  However, I kind of felt like actually purchasing this pattern was a little stupid---it's just a bunch of double crochet stitches!  Like I couldn't have figured that out.  I should write my own patterns--this is like highway robbery for the insanely non-spatially inclined among us.
I also had to buy a new crochet hook.  Silly me when I saw the size, I still envisioned a pretty tiny hook.  No, I had this giant thing:

I feel like that Crocodile Dundee movie--that's not a crochet hook, THIS is a crochet hook!

It was super simple ( won't cheat and just outright give the pattern).  The hardest part was counting the insane amount of chain stitches at the beginning.  I have trouble counting and I have trouble counting chains that large, so I'm not ashamed to tell you I redid that step about ten times before I finally made it to the 70s.  So, then a bazillion double crochet stitches later and whala!  I have a scarf.
I'm curious to try the hat pattern (different vendor) and see how it turns out.  I won't be making this hat nearly as fast as I did the scarf.  It was just a brief scarfy obsession that spurred me on so fast.  But I like the end results!  I can't believe it was so large, but it's really cuddly and yummy and warm.  Yay for scarves!

What a model... ignore the gym hair. 

Baby Legs and Big Girl Seat

Peek-a-boo!

 So I am in love with Baby Legs, little baby leg warmers, but they are so darn expensive for what they are.  I originally figured I'd have to learn to knit so I could just knit up a few of my own.  Then I found out I wouldn't have to!  Thanks to this helpful tutorial, I went out on the search for some socks and got to work.  I couldn't find the socks of my dreams, but these were pretty cute, and she needs more purple (and I realize the navy KIND OF looks like jeans.  SO that was kind of neat!)  I made three pairs--purple with navy, navy with purple, and stripes.  They're definitely big right now, but she's going to be a baby for a long time, so that's okay.  I'm still kind of humored by things that are oversized on her.  Makes me think she's small :)

I also found out that her cute little purple pom-pom hat that I made before she was born finally fits.  For being a newborn size, it certainly did NOT fit until now!  It's made out of a really soft fluffy purple yarn, and I mixed in some white for the trim and poms (to break up all that purple). 

In these pictures, she is also wearing one of her pug shirts that Wally graciously made for my baby shower.  It's a newborn size, but they STILL fit well.  I guess "newborn" is a nice way to say, it just might not make it all the way to three months. 

Despite all my rage...

We also decided, since we've been sitting up more with her lately, and Claire's head control is getting so awesome, that we'd invest in a Bumbo seat.  She can actually sit in it for quite some time, but she was being obnoxious for pictures, so Daddy has to support her head.  Might have had something to do with her giant heavy hat, too.  It's amazing how much she loves just being up in everyone's business.  Laying on the couch in her boppy pillow is for the birds--If she's awake she's in her bouncer or on our laps.  We also have a Baby Einstein jumper, but she's way too short.  Even with pillows.  But we still play with it with parent help. 

What a big little girl!  And notice the fit on the silly leg warmers--definitely something to grow into, but super super cute!

Two Months of Baby Claire!

And what a two months it has been!

Mr. Grinch and I are in love, you can't stop this!

We can do all sorts of new and wonderful things! Claire has been working hard on her tummy time and she can raise up her head quite well.  We like to hold her so her tummy is on our chest and she can lift her head and look around.  She's way more in to that than traditional tummy time, but she gets both. 

This is pretty much the norm on the head holding these days.  "Mom, now I can see the world!"

Along with tummy time head raising skills, Claire has also been working on her rolling over skills!  She can now roll from her tummy to her back--sometimes she doesn't WANT to, but it happens anyway.  She's got a lot of momentum when she gets going.  She seemed very surprised the first time she rolled over.  Well, I was too!  I knew it was possible that she could soon start to roll, but she lifted up, wobbled, and wha-bam!  She was on her back.  I thought it was an accident, but I realize that all these milestones kind of start out as happy accidents. 

Claire showing off rolling skills.  She didn't make it all the way, she gets stuck pretty much after I take this picture when she gets on her side.  That's okay though, it's hard to perform in front of a camera. 

Claire makes happy social noises.  Another milestone I didn't understand.  When the books says she'll verbalize, I doing know what I'm expecting, but I certainly wasn't expecting the squawks and squeals that she puts out.  Some of them sound like she's yelling "who" and "hay" which is fun.  She still acts surprised if she really gets something good out, like it startles her.  Even more so when we quickly mimic her back.

Oh Hai...

She's growing more aware of everything around her.  She notices toys, especially her new tummy time toy, which she's kind of even figured out if she can hit it, it'll light up and make noise.  She reminds me of my psych days when we'd learn about rats learning how to work levers based on reward.  She sticks with it only one or two times before she gets distracted, but her attention to it seems very intentional. 

The sun makes noise.  You can't tell, because you can't hear it, but that's what she's looking at.  She knows.

She started daycare on her 2 month birthday.  I was worried it would be a disaster, and I was worried I'd be a mess.  Now, I won't say that I don't really really miss her, because I absolutely do.  But it IS nice giving her more structure than I'm able to provide at home.  Or that I could figure out how to provide at home.  Another great thing that has come with me going back to work?  A SET bedtime.  Claire, for her New Years resolution, vowed to sleep in her big girl bed, instead of the crib in our room.  Of course, she couldn't verbalize that, but I knew that's what she wanted.  And she's doing it!  Last night, thank our lucky stars, she slept the entire night.  We woke up to the alarm... not a baby!  I'm so amazed by her.  She loves routine.  Tonight we gave her a bath, swaddled her, and turned off her lights.  She just shut her eyes and went to sleep!  How did that happen!?  I'm proud of her.  What a trooper.

Claire is still fitting in her newborn outfits, but they're finally getting tight (and I don't care for the unisex sleepers we have anyway, so no loss there).  Her 0-3 outfits still fit just fine.  I have had to resize her Fuzzibunz diapers already (of course, I had them on the XS setting, so no shock there).  She's also eating 4 to 5 ounces at every feeding.  Because of her spitting up issues, 5 ounces sometimes turns into a disaster... so we've tried giving her 4 and then follow up with another ounce a little while later.  She does seem more satisfied if she can get 5 down and stay down.  We've stopped giving her the heartburn medicine, as she's no longer having that discomfort.  We also discovered Gripe Water (glorious) but we don't give that to her anymore either!  Her fussiness has really gone away.  She is more fussy in the evenings, but that's normal for her age.  And at least with her new and improved bed time, we can have a little private adult time before OUR bedtime WITHOUT the crying. 

One thing is certain--we are in LOVE with our little girl.  Every day she amazes us and makes us smile.  She's such a happy, lovey dovey baby.  She loves watching me eat breakfast, and my poor Raisin Bran goes soggy because I spend too much time smiling and making faces and entertaining her.  If the girl could laugh she would.  She loves things that make her almost laugh--blowing on her belly, playing peek-a-boo... she doesn't quite laugh, but she makes noises to go along with her delight, which is fun.  She's also quite the hand sucker, but since her mommy was an avid thumb sucker (so much so, I still remember quitting), that's not a shock, either.

I can't wait to see what this month brings!  So many big girl steps yet to come!

Obsessive much?

With Claire starting daycare today, I was super nervous about many things.  Of course, I was most concerned about when she looked up to see who was there, she wouldn't see me.  Unlike apparently all my friends who have babies, I've not been able to get away from Claire for more than a few hours since she's been born (and conveniently attached to her prior to that) so we've kind of grown used to each other always being there.  Going out without the baby has felt strange... like I've lost an arm or something.  Where's the baby.  That's what my brain is always saying.
So we dragged all of our Claire accessories (see, see what I did there?  Because Claire's is also an "accessories" store?) to daycare, and I brought in my bundle of cloth diapers.  I plan on using only BumGenius 3.0s/4.0s with hook and loop (velcro) because those are the easiest for non cloth diaperers.  However, I realized yesterday, trying to prepare our items for daycare, that there is a lot of information that they might not be aware of.  I started doing research, just to see what other mommas did (or the trouble they ran into) and I read a ton of scary stories about a days worth of diapers thrown away (dear GOD they're too expensive, I'd be digging through trash bags) or diapers returning slathered in rash cream (which is practically a death sentence to cloth diapers because it causes them to leak--it repels the tinkles, to be "technical"). 
So I decided to be proactive (that way I can be super pissy when something bad happens, because I TOLD them!) and create a little information sheet on how to use her diapers.  Here is what's on there, for those who might need to know someday what to say upfront.  I showed them the handout this morning and they were thankful for the information.  It also helps they're familiar (to an extent) with cloth diapering, so I'm hoping for no awful tragic stories ending in, "So that diaper is no more". 

Helpful Cloth Diaper Pointers for:

Claire Duckett

To Change the Diaper:

·         Simply undo like a regular disposable
You CAN use a clean portion of the diaper to wipe excess poo off, if needed
Take dirty diaper (poo or tinkle) and rewrap once off, just like a used disposable, put dirty diaper in wet bag, and rezip!
Send dirties home and I’ll take care of the rest! 

(Please don’t throw the diapers away—I will clean off poo and undo the system for the wash, so there is no need to pull the inserts.  Keeps the wet bag cleaner, too!)

Putting on the Diapers:

(we will always try to send the same type, the BumGenius with Velcro, but if we send some snaps, this will also cover that)

·         For a regular diaper with Velcro: simply arrange diaper like a disposable.  The insert inside the pocket should not touch her skin, because it can zap extra moisture out.  When closing up, make sure no extra parts of the inside are sticking out, either in the back/front or by the legs.  If the inside is sticking out, they’ll leak.  Don’t be afraid to have them tight!  Loose legs can cause leaks, too!

·         For a snap BG: same fit rules apply, and the snaps are a waist closure only.  Right now she’s so small we snap right down the middle, but if that seems too tight, you can move one or both sides out to the next row of snaps.

·         For a Fuzzibunz Snap: these have hip closures plus waist.  Snap the lower snaps first to fit the legs (on both sides) then snap the top two to best fit the waist. 

Sizing: We will send the diapers pre-sized (snaps down the front for BGs or elastic inserts on FBs) and prestuffed, so they’re ready to use, just like a disposable diaper.  If the diaper comes unsnapped in the front, you can resnap.  Also, if you think the size is ever too small, you can choose to unsnap the front yourself and resize (no need to change anything else). 

In Case of Diaper Rash:

Please do not use regular diaper cream for a diaper rash.  If she begins to show signs of a rash, you can switch to a fresh diaper or a disposable.  Diaper cream will mess up cloth diapers.  If she has a rash, I will send her with cream and either fleece liners for the diapers (don’t let the cream touch the actual diaper) or we will keep her in disposables for the day (much preferred) using cream.  I have a small sample cream in her actual diaper bag (front pocket) but please do not use it with a cloth diaper!

Winter Reading Post

The Duckett household has been invaded... (duhm-duhm-duhm) by zombies!  Maybe because they're so darn trendy, or maybe because we kept catching Zombieland on Starz, but we couldn't get enough of them!  We watched the AMC channel's The Walking Dead, and then found out it was a whole series of graphic novels!  So, that was a must-read Christmas present (thanks Claire and the dogs for pooling your allowances and buying this for Mommy and Daddy!)
The Walking Dead: Compendium One

You can purchase these in each individual books (there are 48 in this compendium--and the second half in the second compendium that we hijacked to read on the computer, so if you purchase separately, it becomes an investment equivalent to a bronze tiger on your college campus).  You can also purchase books with several in them.  But this is the monster anthology, so this is what I wanted. I only found out about this from a geek at Barnes and Noble who had the last (tattered) copy to purchase.  I was thankful I was baby wearing, or "shit would have got real" and I'd have had that book.  But I ordered it on Amazon for a lot cheaper. 
Anyway--my review?  I LOVE love love the AMC series.  I have freakishly bad nightmares, but since this whole zombie-revolution started, I've realized I'm kind of immune to them.  This is definitely an eye-opening view of the Zombie Apocalypse.  I do enjoy an occasional graphic novel, so it didn't bother me, but some of the story lines get old, and people keep losing body parts, and there is some serious sexual content... but the freakishness of good ol' zombies won me over.  I must say I didn't rush right into reading the second compendium (haven't even started), but I think it's just a little overload at this point.  I'm still processing.  But basically the premise is that this band of people get together outside of Atlanta (which is overtaken by zombies) and they're fighting for survival--from the zombies and other alive folk who go a might bit insane. 

But we're not finished yet...


Dead City and Apocalypse of the Dead

Joe McKinney's day job is actual police work, so this book, narrated by a cop, has a lot of great cop-ish details.  I enjoyed the technical ideas of what would go down.  This was actually a pretty pleasant read, I imagine it to be the equivalent of a romance novel for guys (no sex, just lots of gore).  It had some tangents, and lots of redundant shooting scenes that I found myself skimming through a little by the end, but that's more my issue than an issue with the book.  I get bored pretty easily.  I haven't read the second book yet, but the premise in both is that from severe flooding in Texas causes an outbreak of a virus that creates, what else, zombies!  Then it starts spreading, and invades this town, and (as Matt says) "shit got real".  The main character is a cop who is trying to help a few buddies and get home to his wife and young son.  Lots of zombie shooting, car wrecks, and crazy running around. 

And for good measure...
Married with Zombies

Now, to be honest, I didn't actually purchase this... or completely finish it.  A good afternoon at Barnes and Noble sipping coffee got me through about half of this, and I really enjoyed it.  I'm sure if I can get a little more B&N time this weekend, I'll just finish it.  How terrible of me.  It's pretty cute and lighthearted, as seems to be the author's style (there's another one called Flip this Zombie).  Basically the couple is really pissed at each other, they go to counseling, just to find their counselor feasting on the couple who had the session before them.  And cue the zombies.

I've read zombie books--World War Z was an entertaining summer pool read, although some of it was so technical and boring I'll admit, I lost steam 3/4 of the way through. 

I've only had ONE zombie dream since this whole escapade began, and it was severely entertaining (not scary at all!).  I raided houses and stole make-up and canned goods (why make up?  I guess because you gotta look good when "shit gets real").  I also watched my ex have his legs eaten off by zombies, after becoming infected himself.  Oh... that was entertaining.  And I survived!  I've also beat Resident Evil's 4 & 5 (which include zombie-like people) and I briefly played the zombie level on Call of Duty: Black Ops (but I, or it, sucked).  I'm kind of zombied out now, unfortunately.  I'm sure it'll come back around.  The classics always do!