Christmas and Crawling

There's one reason that I'm grateful that Kameryn probably won't remember Christmas this year, and it's simply this: If she expected to get as many presents every year as she did this year, Jay and I would have to take out a mortgage on our house. Or, more realistically, get a loan because we wouldn't HAVE a house from being in debt from all the Christmas presents the previous year.

Honestly, I think we all went a little bit crazy. There were more presents under our tree than I think I've ever seen anywhere. And I don't think I'll ever forget Christmas morning, walking in and seeing the high chairs Grandma got for the babies, and even THEY were saturated in presents!

Honestly, joking aside, I am overwheled with everyone's generosity and the material manifestation of how much we're loved. I think this year is my favorite Christmas ever, and it's because it was so fun to get gifts people couldn't WAIT for us to open. I love that my baby is so loved, but everyone in my family was spoiled rotten.

Mom, there's no way to thank you for all that you do. You're so selfless and you have such a huge heart. I don't know how to put it into words, but I'm really touched by it. I think all of us are.

And, as if trying to make the date easy to remember because I'm getting so far behind on my scrapbooking, Kameryn chose Christmas as the day to start crawling. It first started in Chelsee's room, but I passed it off as a fluke, and then she did it while I was on the phone with Wes, but then wouldn't do it again afterward, so again I got to sleep in the comfort of my own denial. But tonight I don't have the luxury, because not only was she doing it again today, she's picking up ability and speed. Yesterday it was more of a cautious, wobbly crawl over to an orange, and tonight Chelsee put her keys down and Kameryn was on them in a minute flat. I'm still really excited about it and so proud of her, but I know in a week I'll be begging her to go back to sitting in one spot and scooting herself around the carpet. Needless to say, things are going to be interesting.

And, as an update to my last blog, the washer and dryer ended up being fine, just loaded too full by an overzealous husband who wanted to clean all the laundry in one load. The car, however, wouldn't give up the drama queen act and had to be taken into the shop. We have to pay for labor, but they're replacing our alternator without charging us for the part because 3 years ago we bought a lifetime warranty, and they've had to fix it every winter since. I think they may be cursing the warranty under their breath, but I'm good with it.

Alright, that's all for tonight. I love you all, thank you so much for everything.

It Always Comes in Three's

So they say that bad news comes in three's, and I've heard that, of course, but today is the day I got to see it in action. It went like this. This morning when I left for work I was driving down Orchard Drive listening to "Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake, and no I'm not ashamed to admit that. But while I was driving, the radio shut off all by itself. Fortunately, (I guess) this is something that has happened to me before, and so I knew that radio shutting itself off = car breaking down in about 10 minutes. So I turned around and made it home, luckilly. When Jay went out to check on the car, it wouldn't start at all. Bad luck item #1.
Well, Jay and I had both Kameryn and Isaac today, and it was kinda nice because they were both so good I got the dishes done while Jay folded laundry. I asked him at one point to put in another load, which he did, and I was amazed at how quickly it ran through the cycle. Well, I opened the lid to find that it hadn't completed the cycle, it had just decided to take a break. Leaving the clothes rinsed, but still in the water. So we don't know what's wrong with the washer, but it's not working either.
So we thought that was pretty bad luck but we were almost able to laugh about it, until our self-inflicted #3. Self-inflicted by ME. I was thinking to myself, "I've got to get those clothes out of the water so they don't get mildew-y. Because then in order to get rid of the smell we'd have to wash them, which we now cannot do." So I spent 25 minutes pulling the clothes out of the washer, ringing them out and throwing them into the dryer. After I was done I pulled out a dryer sheet and turned the dryer on. I knew we'd have to dry the load a couple times since they were so much wetter than usual, but hey, at least the dryer worked.
Well, the dryer turned about 3 times, and it was almost like it went in slow motion, because I was listening to it, I realized the soaking wet clothes were WAY too heavy for the dryer to handle and I was reaching out to turn it off again when it shut itself off. And it won't start again. Probably blew a fuse. So that's my number 3.

We have less than a week until Christmas and Jay and I had been stressing about money a bit anyway, before today.

But thinking about it tonight I really can't help but think about how fortunate I am because of everything I have. My baby is beautiful and smart and HEALTHY, which is something I am so deeply grateful for. I have a husband that I love and he's an awesome father to our baby. I have an incredibly entertaining family who are healthy and getting together soon, which always makes for an interesting time. And I have Allison who is going to come home, and together with her and our singing we'll be able to make everyone around us feel the Christmas spirit.

So instead of repeatedly kicking things, I think I'm going to focus on the positives in this situation. And hey, what's the worst that can happen? Jay and I will turn into hippies and walk everywhere we go, (no offence Wes!) we can grow our hair out into dreadlocks and our clothes will smell a little bit funny. Even then, I think as long as we know deep down in our hearts that the ox and lamb are keeping time, we'll be fine.

A Quick Thought

I think my family is the most important thing to me. I love being around you guys. I just wanted you all to know that, that my happiest times are times when we're all together, and tell you that being close to you is something I value above anything else. In addition to loving the relationships I have with you, I'm also happy that Kameryn gets to grow up so close to so many people who love her so much, and family that's NOT as close but still loves her so much. (Word that you're spoiling the babies HARDCORE this year has gotten out, Allison!) So thank you guys for everything, and for helping me remember what is most important in life.

Baby Genius

Jay and I went to dinner tonight. We were talking while we were eating, and Kameryn was on a chair next to me, close enough that she kept kicking me to get my attention, which worked really well for awhile and then lost it's effect. Not easilly deterred, she decided to play a little game with me in order to get my attention again. When I finally looked over at her she held the blanket up over her face for a minute, and then pulled it down and smiled a huge, toothless smile! Then, sure that both Jay and I were watching, she pulled the blanket over her face again, and this time when she pulled it down, she growled at us a little bit, and then laughed.
That's right. In order to get my attention, Kameryn was playing peek-a-boo with me.
The best part of the story, though, is that Jay and I don't play peek-a-boo with Kameryn often at all because she doesn't (or didn't, I should say) seem to understand it. When we covered up our faces she would get bored and look somewhere else.
But gees, she had to do something. Parents these days. Always have to keep coming up with new things just to keep their attention. Keeps a baby on her toes.

Ramblings

I worry about my blog always being about the same thing, or more specifically, the same two babies and their latest goings-on. I'd love to get that book that gives a bunch of blogging ideas, but I'm currently so poor that I can't buy it, even if I DID want to go out and brave all the craziness of shopping and parking, which I honestly don't. So tonight will be one of the same type of blogs, probably a rambling, state of the union type blog, and even though I prefer to write when I have an idea to start with of what I should write about, I think maybe a rambling blog is better than nothing.

Right now, I think my favorite part of the day is when Jay gets home from work and the three of us sit on my bed, talking and enjoying being together. Kameryn is at such a fun age right now, she's able to express so much of her personality and she's so funny. She loves to play, she loves to talk, and she's so close to learning to crawl I think she can taste it. Sitting on the bed she'll mauver her way over to Jay, sit with him for a few minutes, and then manuver her way back to me. It's not crawling, but it's definatly awareness in her body that she's developing more and more. It's probably because of my family's "Sunday mornings on the bed" that make this time so meaningful to me. It helps us all slow down for a little bit and just enjoy being a family.

Work right now is a little bit strange. I think it's probably true of everyone that when you've worked at a place long enough it's easy to tell just from walking into the office what mood the office is in, and if it's been a hectic day, if tensions are high, that sort of thing. Lately at work, the office has been sad. Sad and secretive, and I don't know if those things are connected or not. One of my doctors lost a patient a couple weeks ago and he's been really hard on himself, blaming himself, but I don't know if it's completely that or not. So I'm just waiting until I can find out what's going on, or until the office goes back to normal.

Needless to say, after getting through my day at work I'm tripping over myself to get back home to my family. Which includes all my surrounding family as well. Chelsee took us to see "The Holiday" this weekend, which was SO GOOD! I thought it looked good on the preview, and it didn't disappoint, which is saying a lot. That's all I'll say about it because I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but I'm with Chelsee in saying that anyone who wants to go see it, invite me. I'll do what I can to come with you!

The other night we were up at Danae and Gary's and Kameryn ended up needing a bath. Instead of sending us home, though, Danae took her right upstairs and gave her a bath, and offered some of Isaac's pajamas to dress her in afterwards. We gladly accepted, and Kameryn showed her appreciation by peeing all over the floor. AFTER her bath. It's a good thing her aunt and uncle love her so much.

I have so much fun with my family, though, and I love that everyone is so good to my baby. I can't wait until we can ALL get together for Christmas and for Wes to come down in January. It's gonna be fun. And Wes, Isaac is getting to be a pro at holding a pen by himself. He will not disappoint.

Alright, now I must get to bed. Isaac is coming in the morning! I know this blog is neither here nor there, so let's all hope that the library has the blog-idea book. And that I can come up with the money to pay off my late fees.

Cousins

Tonight, just to mix things up, I'm not just going to rant about Kameryn. I'm going to rant about Kameryn AND Isaac. I know, it's a bit of a change, but we'll make it through.

The last two weeks I've been watching Isaac in the morning when Danae goes to work, and I have to admit that at first I was really scared. The first day he slept the whole time he was here, as did Kameryn, and that was a relief. A couple days in, though, Kameryn woke up before Danae even got here, and I had them both. Two hungry babies first thing in the morning. I thought it would be impossible, and when both of them started crying it was a little difficult, but I quickly learned that it's all about timing, and once you have the timing down, it's pretty fun.
I know I've been afraid that if I have another baby there would be no way I could love it as much as Kameryn. This experience has shown me that I couldn't be more wrong. It's SO easy to love them both, and even more fun when they interact with each other. Now what I don't understand is how anyone could get ANYTHING done with two babies around! It's hard to make bottles, let alone do dishes or laundry! I think the new rule is we'll wait until Kameryn can hold her own bottle. And walk and talk. And is potty trained. Then we'll think about having another baby.

It's fun to see Kameryn react when she realizes Isaac is here. She gets so excited and wants to touch him, and she likes to scream. Because her cousin is here and HOW CAN I POSSIBLY CONTAIN THIS EXCITEMENT?! But my favorite was tonight when Danae came over, because Kameryn saw Isaac and started "talking" to him, which was just her saying "Nanana" but she said it in a high, slow voice. Because she seems to understand that is how we should talk to babies.
And Danae agreed to let Kameryn touch his head, and when she did she would leave her hand on him for a second, and then pull it away and laugh. It looked a lot like she was petting one of the cats. She was so delighted, and gave him several kisses.
Which means that she's one of us, because we all have that reaction to Danae's sweet baby. And dang, he's getting cuter every day. I would trade eyelashes with him in a second if I could, he's going to have such beautiful eyes. He amazes me with how strong he is, and you can tell just by looking at him how much more aware of his surroundings he's becoming. And his smiles make my day. He's the best boy ever.

So yes, this is yet another post of me ranting about the babies. It's hard not to, though. They make things so interesting and make my life so fun.

Faith

Danae and Gary blessed Isaac on Sunday, and I was really happy that I was there to support them. About halfway through, though, I started getting a little bit jealous. I almost wish that there was a way for me to get everyone together to appreciate Kameryn, and then make everyone sit down and listen quietly while I list off all the things I want for her in her life. (I hope that doesn't sound disrespectful to the blessing, I'm not trying to be sacreligious. I'm serious.)
As for what I want Kameryn to believe in, I don't have one particular thing in mind. The disadvantage to the position I have myself in is that what I believe in is so personal that I have trouble explaining it to anyone else. I don't even necesarilly need her to believe in the same things I do. I want her to find things she feels strongly about and build her own beliefs. I don't ever want her to feel alone, but I also don't want her to only be good out of fear or guilt. And I always want her to know I love her. I want her to love herself as much as I love her and not grow up doubting herself or settling for less than she's worth or less than what I know she can achieve.
I also feel bad that by not teaching her everything about one religion or even something about a lot of religions, I'm doing her a disservice. At the same time I like that it can be open for her to choose. And no matter what she chooses, I think I'll be happy for her as long as it's something she loves and feels comfortable with.
I'm really thankful that Kameryn will have such a diverse group of people around her who can all teach her and support her. I think the places I fall short can be made up with other people's input and examples.

Proof, In Case You Were Wondering

This is an actual conversation. I'm in the kitchen doing dishes while Geoff and Jay are "watching the baby" aka playing Playstation in the other room. I have the radio on.

Jay, overhearing the song I'm listening to: "You know you're gay if you listen to Coldplay."
Me: "Is this Coldplay?"
Jay: "Yeah."
Me: "Well, you know you're gay if you KNOW it's Coldplay!"

I go in to kiss him and he says he can't kiss me because now he's gay and gay men don't kiss straight women. I counter that I have, in fact, kissed a gay guy, one of Allie's friends who kisses hello. Then I go back into the kitchen to finish the dishes.

Radio Announcer (This will be Wesley's favorite part.) "That was the latest from U2!"

Me: "JAY! GOOD NEWS! YOU'RE NOT GAY AFTER ALL!"

The Beep

One of my main jobs at work is refills. I get the voicemails and the faxes that people and pharmacies send us asking for prescription refills, I put them into the computer and send them to the doctors for approval, and then once they're approved the doctors send them BACK to me, I call the pharmacies to let them know to refill the meds and I also call the patients to say, "Hey, I just called in your refill." It doesn't sound all that fun, and most days it's probably a little less fun than it sounds. But hey, someone has to get zoloft, ritalin, viagra, crestor and hydrochlorothiazide out to the masses, and in this case, that person is me.
Which leads me to yet another work-related pet peeve:
When I call the patient to let them know their prescription is ready, I don't mind getting the answering machine, except for in the following situations:

"You have reached (phone number, area code first, is read off very slowly)
We are unavailable. (Or screening your calls, who are we kidding here.)
Please leave your name, number and a brief message." (Um, yeah, trust me, this isn't my first rodeo. I think I've got this leaving a message thing down. But thanks for the refreshing reminder.)
Then, another automated voice kicks in which starts with, "If you'd like to leave a call back number, press 5 now. If you'd like to page this person, press 7 now. Otherwise, please wait for the beep."
BEEP.

I, for one, vote AGAINST rambling answering machines. I know there are some people who would honestly be lost without the prompts, though. It's like the stupid caution warnings on everything now. "You mean this little white package that came with my new pair of shoes ISN'T something I should eat?" I can see the chaos that could ensue if phones were just randomly beeping at people without first explaining what to do and how to handle said beep.

That said, I personally am a big fan of, "Hey, it's me. Do your thing." BEEP. I guess that's just how I roll.