Visitors Arrive; A Schedule Emerges

Ok, I apologize for my absence. We’ve been so busy living our lives that I haven’t had much time to digest what’s been going on much less write about it. In the past three weeks we have had Andy’s family visit, our friends Jeff and Becky visit and my mom visit. In between all of this there have been vaccinations, sleep issues, realization of the baby’s schedules and more. I’ll fill you in as much as possible and it’s quite possible that I might do this in multiple postings to spare you one gigantic verbal purge.
We had Karl and Vilma, Andy’s dad and his wife, come to visit 2 weeks ago. It was the first time they had met Carson and I think they had a pretty good time seeing him. They did the appropriate amount of oohing and ahhing and telling us how good looking he is. Karl started calling him the Little Champion and I hope he will live up to the title in years to come!
We kept busy during the visit going to dinner, bbqing and even took a hike at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, testing out the capabilities of my BOB off-roading stroller! Strollers have come a long way and my jogger stroller has shock absorbers, can go on dirt, sand and easily mount boulders (or curbs) in a single bound, while holding my diaper bag and yoga mat underneath. As far as I’m concerned it should have a giant red and yellow “S” on the front.
Anyway, back to my story. I think Karl and Vilma were a little sad to go as their visit was pretty short. I know they have an RV trip coming up, so perhaps we’ll see more of them soon. If not, we’ll be making our first big plane trip with baby in tow when we go out there for Andy’s cousin’s wedding in July.
Next we had Jeff and Becky in town for the Oceanside Half Iron Man or Iron Man Qualifier. I’m sure I’m getting the name wrong so sorry, but anyhow, they were in town for a very important race. Andy and I went to watch Becky and their friend Scott. I continue to hold the belief that people who do triathlons have to be just a little bit (teensy tiny) bit nuts. Sorry guys, but you know you are.
After that they came for dinner and then Jeff came back the next day and stayed the night with us….he found the couch very comfy, his only alternative, if he didn’t want to sleep with the baby. I wonder if the choice was a hard one for him….my magic 8 ball says NO. After showing Jeff Phil’s BBQ, the BEST BBQ ribs in San Diego, and reportedly the country, we relaxed at home and Jeff got a real glimpse of life with a baby. I’m sure he went home with baby fever as we make it look so easy. (HAH!).
Jeff left Monday afternoon and my mom arrived a few hours later. It was good to see her again and she was surprised at how big Carson has gotten. I think she was also impressed with how good natured he is. He rarely cries and only when one of the BIG 4 as we call them are wrong: Hungry, Gas, Tired, or Diaper Change Badly needed. I say badly because he is not opposed to sitting in a dirty diaper for some time before letting us know. Sadly this has resulted in some emergency bath time situations. Why Onesies must go over the head to come off is a mystery to me. Imagine pulling a poopy shirt over YOUR head Onesie manufacturer. Would you like getting poop on your head?!? I don’t think so – redesigning necessary on that one. I’m definitely a fan of snaps down the front, thank you very much.
Anyhow, it was good to see my mom and she even told me she was impressed with how good I am with the baby. She thinks I am patient and have a good attitude. I’m not sure if anyone has ever described me as those two things before, and surely not in the same sentence. I guess having a baby has made me slow down quite a bit. I can’t fight it, it is what it is, a baby is a lot of work, but I knew that going in. So I try to shrug my shoulders, sigh and say “oh well” when things don’t go my way. After all, whatever happens is going to happen whether you are uptight about it or whether you are happy about it. I just decided to choose happy. Maybe it will rub off and the little dude, that’s my hope anyway.

So I’ve told you all about our visitors and the climax (I actually remember that word from English class) of my story is that through all these visitors, I discovered something I was unaware of. I HAVE A SCHEDULE! I, Kelly, am a little bit organized. How about that?!? While visitors are great my baby schedule got turned upside down, sideways, and upsidedown again. I didn’t, however, realize I had a schedule until we had a lot more going on. I remember telling Andy, “This is harder than it used to be because we can’t be as flexible with a baby’s schedule.” He got this really funny look (amused even) and said “what schedule?” I proceeded to fill him in on the timing of my daily goings on and he said, “Well why you didn’t tell me you had a schedule?” Well, I didn’t know until just that moment. Funny how that works. Here’s a little sample of my day.
6am - baby wakes,
6:30 am baby eats
8am baby naps for 30 minutes then eats
10 am baby naps for 2-3 hours then eats
2pm (or so) baby naps again then eats
6:30 pm baby eats then we eat and baby gets fussy – doesn’t let me eat with Andy
7:30 process of Beddy Bye for Baby starts
8:30 Baby asleep (it’s really hard to get a baby to sleep on his own Ugh!)

So I’ve learned through all of this that if the baby misses even one of these naps, he sleeps much worse at night and then, of course, we do too. So forgive me, my childless friends if I excuse myself from your very fun party at 6:30 pm; I’m not really that much of a party pooper, I have just paid the price one too many times for messing up THE SCHEDULE. There is a new boss in town and it sure ain’t me.