A Christmas Card Picture Worth One Unorganized Word

A picture is worth a thousand words. . .or one in this case. Today was Christmas Card 2010 picture day and it was one snapshot worth remembering.

Last year for Christmas, Caleb was non-mobile. He rarely got very upset and for pictures he always had the same face. He never really smiled, just kind gave that far-off gaze that most teenagers seem to give.

This year, though, I had a plan. Since Caleb is so insanely cute, I decided to dress him up in an even cuter Christmas sweater with reindeer and all. Yes, reindeer. It was absolutely adorable. I also had my handsome, studley husband get all decked out as well. We all color coordinated and were perfectly in sync.

You know, everyone for their Christmas cards wants to give the impression that their whole lives are together and perfect, while in fact when you go their house on an off day it is messy (as everyone else’s is) and their family is matching all of the time. I’m just a typical American mom striving for an image of organization (HA!) that wanted a picture perfect, Leave It to Beaver Christmas Card.

Well, we got all dolled up and coordinated and trekked out to our picture taking spot. Caleb had not had a nap. We found out quickly that Caleb wanted a nap and he most definitely did not want to take a Christmas picture. He would cry or get upset or sit down and pout.

If you know my child, this is not usually my child. Usually he is a happy go-lucky baby that is as good-natured as they get. Even the nursery workers say so! Today, of all days, he was not happy. I had been planning this day for weeks on end and it went terribly!

I did get a semi-decent Christmas picture. Caleb never actually smiled, but we at least got the same far off look from last year’s card. Hey, you can’t ask to much from this ADMITEDLLY unorganized mom.

Lesson learned today, just go with the flow. When it comes to Caleb and Christmas cards, its not something worth fretting over. Besides, I don’t think I am the only un-organized un-together mom there is out there.

A Wrinkle in Time

“Enjoy it, it goes by so fast.” My mom, my dad, my in-laws, even strangers on the street would tell me that when we first had Caleb. It even got rather annoying to have to hear it everytime that I brought our little man around. Mind you, though, I got annoyed with everything those first three months that he was not sleeping. . .at all. In my defense, though, I, myself, was only running on 4ish ours a day. So, it is safe to say that yes, things did irk me a little more than usual.

Regardless, though, they would all say it and I would just brush it off my shoulder and forget about it.

The first three months flew by! The days, though, felt like eternity. I was going through sleep deprivation at having a tiny little food monster screaming at me for more milk. He apparently thought that his food came “buffet style.” He could come back for more and more anytime he wanted! It must have been wonderful for him, but for me. . .well I was putting my shirts on backwards and eating breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast! I didn’t know what night or day was or what was up or down!

But. . .those three months passed and our little food monster grew into a sleep through the night angel. . .well a sleep through the night baby anyway.

As Caleb grew we would face a whole new set of challenges. Did you know that at one time in C-mans life we could lay him down and he would not move? Oh, when we did that though, we talked about how we longed for the day that he would roll over.

Ha! When that day came, it was beautiful and my husband and I looked at one another and said “Oh what a wonderful day, he rolled over.” Little did we know that this would cause a different kind of terror. No longer could we lay him on the couch and not have to worry. Now, he moved. We had to watch the couch, the table, and anything on the floor because he would roll off, roll under, or find something to put in his mouth.

Still, though, we pressured time to pass us by. . .and it did. We would say “Oh what a day it will be when Caleb crawls.” And then he did!

It was a beautiful evolved crawl that went from army style to all fours, but it was still crawling. We soon learned that crawling came with unique challenges Corners had to be watched and the kitchen floor had to stay clean. He was officially mobile and oh it was scary!

Yet again, though, we said “How wonderful a day it will be when Caleb walks.” And it happened! Caleb started with a furniture walk and now he rivals an Olympic runner! Now we have our eyes glued to the kitchen cabinets, the toilet, and my picture frames (we have already had a few casualties). Not only do we have to watch things, we also have to watch little man a little more closely. He comes up with more bumps and bruises than we know what to do with. He loves to climb and walk, but we are beginning to think his favorite thing is falling.

We just celebrated our little guys first birthday and I think that is when it all hit. The understanding, I mean. I think back to seeing Caleb for the first time in the hospital with his little pumpkin hat, bald head, and shriveled skin and thinking “Wow he is the most beautiful baby in the world.” Now, at one, I still think he is the most beautiful baby in the world, but I cannot help to think, “Where has the time gone?”

“Enjoy it, it goes by so fast.”