Mexico: Top Ten

Recently, Barry and I traveled with eight of our friends to Mexico for a 5-Day/4-Night vacation. Canon stayed with MyGoo and Doc where, I am told, he was the perfect baby (like I'm surprised!!). We stayed at the El Dorado Royale located just outside of Playa del Carmen. Kyle & Mandy, Ed & Leslie, Lance & Tracie, and Sam & Alicia made the trip with us. It was, to say the least, a very memorable experience. Because trips like these can be difficult to describe, I'm taking an idea from my sister-in-law and making a Top Ten list to condense the trip down to its most memorable moments. I'm no Letterman, but here goes . . .

Number 10: Playa del Carmen. The last night of our trip, we decided to venture away from the resort and experience some local night life. We reserved a van to transport our obnoxious crew the 15+ miles to 5th Avenue, a cobblestone road lined with restaurants, shops, and bars. We spent just three hours walking the streets (no . . . not like that) and checking out the shops-that-appear-to-sell-local-memorabilia-but-actually-sell-items-made-in-Taiwan. A few of us found some things worth purchasing (yes, even me) and we had a great time. Things I learned in Playa: the mojitos are better here than anywhere else in Mexico (but not as good as Kyle & Ed's), a Ladies' Small t-shirt is much smaller than a regular small t-shirt, and Mexican women NEVER wear flats.

Number 9: The Sandbags. In an effort to make the horizon a bit more appealing to its guests, the Royale has strategically placed sandbags that look like large boulders a few feet from the shore. While these sandbags are mere eye-candy for most guests, the boys in our group saw an opportunity for an excursion. They climbed and jumped from one sandbag to the next, scraping their feet and backs along the way. Apparently, the game caught on. The lifeguard soon joined them, jumping from bag to bag and blowing his whistle with delight!

Number 8: The Lazy River. The whole reason we chose the Royale over other resorts was the inclusion of a Lazy River in the overall experience, and at least the boys can say that it didn't disappoint. Outside each of our rooms floated a long and winding river - the only river I know whose water is still. This river led to our favorite pool as well as to each other's rooms. Who needs sidewalks when you can take off your cover-up and flip-flops, toss them into a bag with your sunscreen and magazine, and carry all of it over your head in a four-foot-deep canal to the nearest pool only a short football field away? While those not carrying the bag appreciated this mode of transportation, I found it most enjoyable at 2 a.m. after Room Service was delivered and we could enjoy the guacamole and tostitoes from a pool chair in the Lazy River.

Number 7: Six-and-Four. If there is one thing that most of us will remember about this resort is the fact that it does not typically see groups of larger than six people. We sat in each other's laps when the shuttle carried us from place to place, and we rarely (only twice!) sat together as a group at a meal. Whenever we approached a hostess and requested a table for 10, her eyes got big, beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and she immediately responded, "No, we do six-and-four." We finally quit arguing around Day Four.

Number 6: The Cougars. On the third night, we hung out in the Martini Bar in the lobby of the resort. With a group the size of ours, we basically had the bar to ourselves, until . . . The Cougars walked in. A group of 9 forty-something-year-old women sauntered into the bar and immediately found our friend, Lance. Or maybe it would be better to say that Lance is a Closet Cougar-Catcher. To make a long story short, we ended up spending quite some time hanging out with these women, who turned out to be top-selling travel agents from Ohio. When they heard of our troubles with sitting together at meals, they promised to clear everything up for us. While we appreciate their efforts, we continued to sit "six-and-four" for the remainder of the trip. Thanks anyway, Cougars!

Number 5: The Engagement. While I'm sure this would be Number 1 on Sam and Alicia's list, let's be honest . . . we were all waiting on this to happen. One of the promotions we received (you'll hear more about these later) was a candlelight dinner on the beach. The one night we probably all would have preferred to eat with just our spouses, the concierge set us up at a huge table-for-ten! We still had a great time, despite the romantic implications. After dinner, Kyle and Mandy insisted on a walk along the beach. They were celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary and wanted some "alone time." This was, at least, the lie we told Alicia so that Sam could lure her privately to the beach to propose while the rest of us prepared the post-engagement celebration! I want go into details, but know that chocolate-covered strawberries were included. You're Welcome, Sam!

Number 4: BOLUS! If there's one thing I learned from this trip, it is that it never hurts to take two people with medical degrees on any vacation so that they can teach you about things like a Bolus! Basically, a Bolus is a quick and large consumption of water. We all partook in quite a bit of these. You know . . . to fight dehydration! This is Ed teaching the bartender at the resort how to make a mojito.

Number 3: 5-Dinner-Days. One of the best things about an all-inclusive resort is the limitless amount of food and drink available to you at any given time of the day. Our first full day at the resort, we reserved the candlelight dinner on the beach . . . for 10 p.m. There was no way we could wait that long for dinner, so we decided that we would have a "1st Dinner" about 6. Well, if we're going to have a 1st Dinner, we might as well have a 1st lunch as well. Basically, in this one day, most of us consumed 1 breakfast, 2 lunches (back-to-back, literally), and 2 dinners. We didn't do this again.

Number 2: The Promotions. I'm not sure of the details, but somehow the travel agent we used was able to get us some fairly awesome promotional deals during our stay (or maybe it was Sam's daily discussions with Diego using the resort's on-line chatting tool - we're still not sure who Diego is!). Either way, we received three promotional vouchers upon arriving at the Royale. We each used one of our vouchers on the Candlelight Beach Dinner and at least one other one on a massage. This was my first massage, and I must say that it was pretty great. I don't want to go out and spend $100 on one every week, but the next time Diego offers me a free massage at an all-inclusive resort, I'll be sure to take him up on it. In case you're wondering, as cheap as Barry and I are, we didn't actually use our third voucher. Barry has always wanted to throw his own blender out the window and break it on the sidewalk "just because he can." I guess, in some twisted way, he was able to do that in Mexico with the third voucher.

Number 1: The Rendezvous. Though not exciting, the Rendezvous was probably the place we most frequented at the resort. Each morning after breakfast, we would meet at "The Rendezvous," the nickname we gave the pool that the Lazy River emptied into. We awoke and ate at different times, but because we all wanted to meet up eventually, we waited at The Rendezvous until the entire group was there. The boys played Pool Volleyball everyday (the girls joined in once), and a couple of the girls got roped into Water Aerobics. Again, not the most exciting place in Mexico, but definitely a memorable locale. There was a swim-up bar, pool chairs sitting in the pool, and canopy beds in the shade of the coconut trees. Iguanas were everywhere - I think Leslie almost stepped on one! It really was a pretty cool place.

Though not too extensive, I hope this helps your imagination run wild with the events of our vacation. Here are some other pictures that might help you better enjoy our vacation.

The scenery at our resort was beautiful. It was on such a large campus that we rode shuttles from one place to another, and we would all be snapping pictures along the way.


This is a "saltwater pool." We hung out here all afternoon one day. It's a large area of the ocean that they have blocked off with a rock wall. Crabs and other small animals still climb from one side of the pool to the other. Traci spent most of this particular afternoon chasing "critters" and showing them off to us.

As usual, the girls spent a lot of time together! We had to initiate Mandy & Kyle into this way of vacationing. They're used to going on trips with couples who like to hang out together.

I just wish I had gotten some sun on this trip.

The boys also had a good time. They tended to find more interesting things to do, like scuba diving in The Rendezvous pool and trying to drive the resort shuttles.


We did manage to get a few pictures of at least most of us. The one with the Buddha-ish statue is the only one we got of all ten of us. This was one of the two nights were able to sit together, so we thought we'd make a record of it.

Pregnancy

I know I wasn't pregnant for much of 2009, but it was such a big part of my life for so many months, I just have to write a little bit about it (ok, a lot!). Can I first say that the absolute best part of being pregnant with Canon was having so many of my friends who were also pregnant - most with their first child, too? Mandy was the first and due in January (Luke was actually born December 28). Then me, due March 23 (Canon arrived March 12). Alicia was next, due in late April (Ava Grace came April 11). Next came Mary, due May 17 (Colt was born May 11). Erica is still due to have Jack Hudson in August, but she could come any day now. And Julia Ashlyn is due to Tuan on Sept. 8, but no one thinks she'll make it that long! I can't tell you how much fun it is to have others around who are going through the same new experience with you (and to have a veteran like Tuan in the pack as well). We talked about pregnancy non-stop, and now that most of the babies are here, we talk about them non-stop! This picture shows Tuan (3 months), Mary (7 months), Alicia (8 months), and me (2 days before delivery).

So about pregnancy. This was me at 17 weeks. I thought I was already huge! I'm not one of those girls who thinks that pregnancy was the best thing I've ever experienced. I'm sure my hair and nails were in good health because of the vitamins I was taking, and I'm sure others really believed that there was a glow about me. I, however, didn't notice any of those things. I stayed very calm throughout the whole process, but because it was so easy, I was on occasion waiting for something bad to happen. Even after the times I messed up (like forgetting to take my vitamins or falling while trying to dodge a sprinkler) and I expected the worst, nothing bad happened. Canon kept squirming around in there, maybe trying to remind me to take it easy.

I'm a person of faith, but a different kind of faith took over during this pregnancy. Barry was very adamant that I eat healthy and remain active. He was not one of those husbands who would have made midnight runs to Winn Dixie to buy me pickles and chocolate ice cream. He probably would have insisted that I run (literally) to Winn Dixie and buy carrots and a case of water instead. Thankfully Jordan (Alicia's husband) often convinced the other fathers-to-be to treat us all to Dairy Queen. God bless you, Jordan! I know eating healthy and exercising go a long way toward a healthy pregnancy, but there really is only so much you can do on the outside while your insides are working miracles. That's the faith I'm talking about. I know I contributed somewhat to the healthy fetal development of our son, but in the big picture, I firmly believe that I really didn't do that much. The fact that Canon was born with ten fingers, ten toes, working internal organs, and plenty of height and weight to spare was not determined by the fact that I drank orange juice every morning and walked two miles every other day. It's very difficult to explain, but Canon's birth has definitely strengthened our faith in our omniscient God for two reasons. First, because we have a beautiful and healthy baby boy that neither of us can really believe is ours. And second, because we have so much love for this child. It's a love that's very different from the love we feel for each other or the love we feel for our family and friends. It's something that we could not have conjured up ourselves, but must have come from somewhere - or someone - else. That's the faith that has inhabited our family in the last several months.

To lighten things up a bit, I think it's important to return to all those times I "messed up" during pregnancy. My first big screw up was at school in my 26th week. I tripped over a computer cord in front of about half of my students and ended up face-down on the floor. I jumped up thinking everything was fine . . . then it hit me that I was pregnant! I left the room quickly before anyone could see me get hysterical. The school nurse (Mrs. Wingate) was so wonderful. She called my doctor and Barry so that I could explain everything to them. I left work for a couple of hours to have everything checked out - an ultrasound showed that Canon was not effected in the least. After returning to school, I decided it was best not to worry my students with any details. This turned out to be a bad decision. Another teacher told me later that day that several of my students were very upset after I fell. One student reported in the next day that her mother was afraid I had lost the baby. We had a quick classroom conference to straighten everything out.

My next big mess up happened about two months later just after we moved into our new house. I was trying to be a good steward of all the money we had spent on our landscaping by watering our new lawn. Because Barry and I are both a bit tight with our funds, we decided it was unnecessary to put in a sprinkler system (a decision I regret to this day). I was busy moving our three sprinklers to various positions in our yard and again, I forgot I was pregnant. I adjusted the trajectory (is that the right word?) on the sprinkler then sprinted across the yard to dry safety. As my foot caught the seam between our soggy new sod and the sidewalk, I suddenly remembered why I'm not supposed to sprint. Gravity took over, and I landed on all fours, then slid softly onto my belly. Luckily, I already had experience with falling, so I didn't freak out. I felt Canon moving inside of me and decided that we were both ok, and no medical attention was needed. I can't be sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if Canon started his initial descent at this point. It was mere days later that he arrived!

All in all, Canon was a very quiet fetus. He didn't move around too much, which caused me quite a bit of worry when I heard how much my friends' babies were kicking. I couldn't complain of any bruised ribs, however, so I was fine with his calm nature - something he exudes in "real life" as well. He didn't give me heartburn or cause me any morning sickness. He hung out low in my belly so that when I sat down, he was literally sitting in my lap. He basically played by the rules - no drama (except what I caused myself) and no pain (again, only that which I caused myself).

To say it was easy would be an understatement. To say I loved it wouldn't be entirely true either. Pregnancy was just another natural chapter in my story. Parts of it were memorable, but as a whole it blends in with New Year's celebrations and birthday parties. I loved it, but I don't long for it. I don't miss it, but I definitely want to do it again. Barry wasn't my favorite person during it, but my feelings for him have grown stronger because of it. Pregnancy wasn't made clear to me until after Birth. Birth is the real life-changer. Pregnancy is just a means to an end, I guess. You dive in head first, hope it doesn't break your body and spirit, find strength from some unknown source, then be constantly reminded of the miracle that it produces. These are the only words in my limited vocabulary that can begin to explain it, even to myself.

Canon Joins the Church (and other "Firsts")

Canon was officially initiated into the Christian community on July 12, 2009, as he was baptized at our church, Covenant United Methodist, by Dr. Hayes McKay. Barry was a good sport as I invited family and friends to come witness the big event. Poppa, Nonna, Lydia, Houston, Doc, MyGoo, Jason, Ann Steiner, Amelia, and Ceil all drove south, while several of our friends - Ed, Leslie, Will, Tuan, Alex, Mary, Colt, Alicia, and Ava - drove from across town. We arrived at church (late as usual), and the music had already begun. We became the center of attention as we filed down the aisle to the front pew, a place Barry and I usually avoid at all costs. Our praise band was playing Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" at the time. I might need to explain this. The sermon series this month focuses on the book of Daniel, and the morning's sermon was on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being thrown into the fiery furnace. Thus, the literal meaning of "Ring of Fire" was insinuated. (What can we say? We're a little progressive, especially for Dothan!). I only hope this is not foreshadowing Canon's future endeavors.

Canon, of course, was on his best behavior as water was sprinkled on his head and Hayes held him up to show him off to our fellow church members. Afterward, everyone came to the house to enjoy lunch on the front porch. It was a memorable morning for our tiny family.


After family and friends had returned home, we decided Canon was ready for another big event - his first taste of "solid" food. After mixing and re-mixing cereal (how am I supposed to know how to do this stuff?!) he was finally ready for his first bite. There's no telling how much cereal he actually ate, but there was a lot left in the bowl, a good bit on the tray, and, as you can see, plenty left on Canon.

Chukkers

In late June, several of our friends loaded up a few cars and headed to Franklin, TN, to attend the Chukkers for Charity Polo game. Barry's Aunt T works for an organization called Saddle Up! that uses horses to provide recreational therapy to children with physical and mental disabilities. (Go to http://www.saddleupnashville.org/ to read more about this awesome organization). Saddle Up! co-sponsors Chukkers for Charity, a charity polo match that benefits Saddle Up! and Rochelle Center. T told us about the event several years ago, and we finally made it this summer!

Canon spent his first night away from us. He stayed with Nonna & Poppa at Barry's grandparents house. We were sad to leave him but excited to have a carefree day and night with our friends. We spent most of that Saturday morning roaming around Franklin buying food and drinks for the day. We finally made it to the game about 2:00 where we set up our spread under the cabanas and waited for the match to begin. In attendance were Grant and Leslie, Lydia, Houston, Kyle and Mandy, Ed and Leslie, Sam and Alicia, and David and T.

To say it was hot is an understatement. I won't go into too much detail, but I will say that the napkins we brought for the food served double duty as sweat mops! It was all worth it for the fun and fellowship we had that afternoon. To be quite honest, I didn't watch too much of the game. Instead, I ate, drank and was merry! We participated in the traditional stomping of the divets during half-time. Kyle and Mandy fought over the one divet we found before the kids . We stayed long after the match was over and continued to enjoy each other's company. Sam challenged the boys to a footrace from one goal post to the other. Ironically, he quit half-way down the field and claimed himself the winner!!

After packing up, we pretended to have enough energy to eat out at the Red Pony in downtown Franklin. We decided to call it a night when we watched the chef microwave Ed's Bananas Foster. I don't think we realized how truly old we have gotten. We were back at the hotel and in bed by 11:00. Despite this senior moment, we had an amazing weekend and hope to make this an annual event.

Father's Day

I am almost embarrassed to even write about Barry's first Father's Day. It did not go at all as I had planned, but somehow we were both amazingly happy at the end of the day. I had had many thoughts in the previous week of how I wanted this day to go. After all, a man only gets one First Father's Day, and I wanted this day to be perfect for Barry. I tried to put aside everything that I wanted for him and tried to think about what he would want.

Besides Canon and myself, what Barry loves more than anything else is hanging out with all of his friends. They can be doing anything from playing basketball in 100 degree heat to making new trails for the mini-bike we acquired when Canon was a mere week old. (That's a whole different story that I might find the patience to write later!). You may have already read that we recently moved into our new house just across the street from a beautiful park. It's great for kids with swings and lots of room to just run around, but it's also great for adults because it has horseshoe stakes and a bocci ball "field." Barry and his boys took to these two games immediately. In fact, the second day I was in the hospital after having Canon, Barry went home to take a shower. I called him, oh about three hours later when he still hadn't returned, only to find that he was throwing horseshoes with two of his buddies. My point is, he loves these two games. So, I thought maybe a Bocci Ball / Horseshoe Tournament would be a great idea for his first Father's Day. I imagined the guys in their polo shirts, shorts, and flip-flops concentrating deeply on each toss while the women ran back and forth from the house, refreshing drinks and keeping themselves cool (my imagination was obviously stuck in the 1950's at that particular moment!). There would be a huge bracket that I would have drawn perfectly and set up on an easle so the guys could read it easily. It would list each of Barry's friends and who they would play and when, all narrowing down to one Bocci Ball / Horseshoe Champion. There might even be a trophy!!!

Do you know how fast time flies when you have a new baby, you don't have to work for the whole summer, and you have three other friends with brand new babies who are also not working? Let me tell you, it is easy to lose yourself in the fun of it all and concentrate solely on how perfect everything is. Needless to say, Father's Day quickly approached, and I had not so much as bought a piece of posterboard to draw my perfect bracket, much less invited friends over or bought refreshments. Sadly, Barry's first Father's Day was not going to involve horseshoes, bocci balls, or all of his friends.

I decided then that I would make his day the next most perfect day I could think of and just let him choose what he wanted to do. I imagined he would be gone most of the day, either working out or rounding up a group of boys to do something creative. They'd probably go swimming or play basketball, and I would stay home and clean out the garage - something I have been meaning to tackle since we moved in and something Barry has mentioned on more than one occasion that he would like to see done. This would be the second-most-perfect Father's Day.

I woke up early, determined to follow through with my plan. I got myself and Canon ready for church, then woke Barry up to get himself ready while we went on to church for an early reception. Sleeping late: 1 point.

That was the last point I earned all day.

After church, Barry came home and mowed the yard, though I assured him I would do it. We then went to Josh and Mary's and swam for a couple of hours (OK, maybe that earned me another point). Then Barry dropped Canon and me off at home while he went to the grocery store so that he could cook us something for dinner. Two things you should know here: Barry despises spending money on groceries when he can go out to eat for a much less expense (or so he thinks), and he rarely wants to eat at home because it's so much fun to go out to dinner. Again, I told him I could do all of this, but he wanted to do it. I gave in. It was his day, after all, so who was I to argue with what he wanted to do.

So Barry went to the grocery store, cooked dinner, and cleaned up afterwards. Who was this man, and where was my husband? As you can imagine, it ended up being a perfect day despite my incessant, yet poor planning. Barry did exactly what he wanted to do, which I was surprised to find was not hanging out with his buddies. People always say that life changes after you have children. I guess I thought they mostly meant that the eating out, late nights with friends, and frequent weekend trips would stop. But those things haven't changed at all for us. Instead, I think the biggest change is turning those things down - only every once in awhile - to privately enjoy our new trio.

Mommy, Who?

I returned to work when Canon was six weeks old to finish out the year with my students. After five weeks back in the classroom, summer finally came and I began enjoying life as a stay-at-home mom, at least for the next two months. The first thing on my agenda: getting back my pre-baby physique. Fortunately, I have lots of friends who are in the same dilemma, so it wasn't difficult to find someone to hold me accountable.

Mandy and I started doing CrossFit the first week in June. Mary joined us a few weeks later. CrossFit is a cardio/weight-lifting exercise program that Mandy and Kyle have been doing for some years now. They have tons of equipment and a nice set-up outside for fresh-air workouts. Basically, we check the CrossFit website every morning for that day's exercise, then decide if we actually want to do that one or choose our own. We usually do what the website recommends. The workout incorporates anywhere from three to five different exercises that you do over and over again as fast as you can. We do pull-ups, sit-ups, bench presses, squats, cleans, push-ups - not all in one workout, of course. Occasionally, running is a part of the routine which, in the dead of summer, is our least favorite thing to do. In other words, we spend about 30 minutes sweating, yelling, and agonizing over the extra layer of blubber we have accumulated over the previous year, then look at our three boys watching us from their strollers and realize it's all worth it!

The best part of our daily workouts is watching Canon, Luke, and Colt interact with one another. They are finally beginning to show interest in each other. Where they used to lay on the floor and randomly hit each other, they will now turn their heads to look at what the other one is doing. Luke has even begun smiling at Canon and Colt and reaching for him. It's so much fun to watch them discover new things!

We took this video of Canon and Luke in mid-June.

A New Friend

You may remember me mentioning a few of my pregnant friends throughout this blog. Well, the fourth Preggers has finally given birth. On May 11, 2009, Colton Andrew Parrish was born to Josh and Mary. He came after a long but exciting day for both of his parents. Canon and I went by the hospital just before he was delivered, then of course went back to meet him in person. Colt and Canon have spent plenty of time together since then. One of their favorite things to do is lay on a blanket and fight over Ava Grace - the only girl in the bunch!

Mother's Day

I celebrated my first Mother's Day on May 10, 2009. I had returned to work two weeks before this and was beginning to feel the sacrifice so many working Mom's endure. There were no more "just's.". I could no longer "just run to the store" or "just go to the movies" or "just get a haircut." So on Mother's Day, I decided that I wanted my "just's" back "just for today."

On Saturday, Barry and Josh Parrish kept Canon while my friend, Mary Parrish and I got haircuts. Mary was eight months pregnant and preparing to give up her "just's" as well. Throughout the morning we received various calls and texts from the boys explaining the details of their baby-sitting duties. I must preface their adventure by saying that we had just started Canon on formula, and his digestive system was still adjusting to this new form of nourishment. In other words, he hadn't had a stinky diaper in two days. The calls and texts began as the guys realized the extent of 48 hours worth of backed-up baby waste. I'll spare the nauseating details but will share some of the words I remember from the event: green . . . explosive . . . everywhere . . . bath . . . peeing on the wall . . . worst thing I've ever smelled . . .

Sunday was just as wonderful (for me!). We went to church, then Barry took Canon and I to lunch at our favorite restaurant, Kyoto. It was the first time just the three of us had gone out to eat. We then went to Target where Barry took Canon to do some shopping while I looked for some things to update my wardrobe. Barry and I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Canon and loving being parents. That night, Sharon Parrish watched Canon while we went with Josh and Mary to the movie theater - our first movie since Canon's arrival. It was a fantastic weekend and an amazing first Mother's Day. I got to do whatever I wanted, which was "just to hang out with my two guys."

The Alien Baby

Have I mentioned what a fantastic baby Canon was, and is? Crying always means "I'm hungry" or "I'm sleepy" . . . until The Alien Baby takes over his body. I wasn't prepared for it, and I didn't see it coming the first time it found us.

We had taken Canon to church a couple of times prior to The Alien Baby's initial arrival. He typically slept through the service, but if he were to awaken, he would simply look around without making a sound. He was always very predictable - eat, play, sleep, repeat. This cycle was broken on Saturday, April 18, 2009, as we sat in a church pew awaiting the marriage vows of our friends, Matt and Rebecca.

As usual, we arrived at the church just before the service began. There was soft music playing and people being seated. It was quiet but not completely silent. The mothers were eventually escorted to their seats, followed closely by the bridal party. If you've ever been to a wedding, you know that there is a very brief period of time between the bridesmaids and the bride when the music stops playing and the bride is preparing to make her big entrance. It is completely silent for maybe three seconds before the trumpets roll to announce the beginning of this sacred ceremony. It was during this three second lull that The Alien Baby first struck our family.

As I twisted in my seat to get a clear view of the main doors as they opened to reveal the beautiful bride, Canon let out a scream so shrill that my heart stopped beating. There was no warning. No soft fussing to let me know he was a bit uncomfortable. No muffled "wah" to prepare me. There was only crying - loud, forceful, look-at-me crying. As I grabbed the diaper bag and headed out the side door, I caught a glimpse of Rebecca's first step down the aisle. I was mortified, but Rebecca swears she never heard a sound. The Alien Baby stayed in my sweet and innocent son until the wedding ended, but left just in time for the reception, during which there would have been enough noise to drown out its terrible cries.

The Alien Baby appeared again the very next day when we attended church and took Canon with us as usual. We attend a contemporary service that is lead by a loud and energetic praise band. The band was playing the opening songs when we arrived, and Canon slept through the next several minutes of bass, electric guitars, and drums. When the music stopped, however, and the preacher took the stage, The Alien Baby once again slithered into my son to cause yet another scene. Apparently, it strikes most often in moments of complete silence when it is difficult to smother the heart-wrenching sounds.

Since that weekend, The Alien Baby has returned on only a few occasions, usually in the car on a long roadtrip when it is impossible to hold and console Canon. Or on a weekend night when all of our friends have come over to relax. Barry and I are getting better at dealing with this Alien Baby. It usually goes away with a quick toss over the shoulder and some pats on the back. A bottle has also proven to get rid of it. It must not like the formula we use!

In case you don't believe me, here are some pictures of when The Alien Baby took over.

Easter

Easter was our first family holiday. We decided to stay in Dothan for the weekend and go to our home church. The church had been building a new sanctuary for several months, and this Easter Sunday was our first service in the new building. Barry and a couple of our friends had staked the place out in the days before and chosen the pew that would be "ours." To my dismay, it was on the front row of the balcony, meaning we stood behind a banister barely 3 feet high, dozens of feet above the floor below. Needless to say, I held Canon tightly during that service.

Because we were in such a rush to get to church on time that morning, I was determined to get a family picture once we returned home. Don't let the nice house and Pleasantville neighborhood fool you. When necessary, Barry and I can rig up a good, old-fashioned redneck tripod with the best of them. Our particular tripod consisted of an ironing board and a stack of books set up on the sidewalk outside the house. If only I had a second camera to take a picture of the tripod for those of you who don't believe me. It took us several tries, but we were finally able to capture a half-way decent photograph of the three of us. Canon is crying, and I'm standing like an offensive lineman, but the important thing is, we have a picture of our first Easter as a three-some.

After eating a pot-luck lunch with several of our friends, we went to the hospital to visit Jordan and Alicia Yates who had just given birth to their first daughter, Ava Grace. As Canon had already been dubbed her boyfriend, we wanted to introduce them early. Ava was born April 11, just one day shy of Canon's one month birthday. Only time will tell if these two were meant to be.

The First Days with a Baby

The next two days in the hospital went by quickly. Barry's parents (who from this point forward will be referred to as Nonna and Poppa) and Lydia spent the weekend in Dothan. MyGoo, Doc, Ann Steiner, and Amelia also visited as well as a number of friends and co-workers in Dothan. Because Canon was born so late in the night, we were able to spend an extra night in the hospital. Barry was not crazy about this idea because he had to spend another night on a hard couch. I, on the other hand, was thrilled to have an extra night of nurses. Finally, we came home on Sunday, March 15. Canon wore the same bubble-suit that Barry wore home when he was born. Nonna, Poppa, and Lydia were waiting for us when we arrived to help get us settled in. MyGoo showed up later that day to help me out with my next few days as Mom.
Those days were, surprisingly, easy. Canon was a great baby. He ate on a fairly regular schedule, slept a lot, and was easily entertained when he was awake. He loved sitting in a his vibrating rocking chair and looking around the room. He also loved to be held on my shoulder so that he could observe the world around him. Though his first bath was a little stressful (as you can see), he quickly developed a love for water, and bathtime became easier for everyone. We rocked on the porch, took walks around the neighborhood, and took mini-roadtrips around town. Target was the place we most frequented, usually to develop new pictures of Canon. We also rejoined our friends at our weekly Thursday Night Kyoto Gathering. I was thrilled to be eating the sushi I had given up during pregnancy!

I loved being home with Canon those first weeks of his life. Even Barry couldn't stay away for too long. He would occasionally come home from work in the middle of the day just to hold him. Infancy, however, was not Barry's favorite part of parenthood. At night, he was always eager to hold Canon, then hand him back five minutes later when he realized that laying there was the most Canon could do. We were both surprised to see how quickly Canon grew and developed. Soon he was smiling and playing, and Barry suddenly wanted to hold him for much longer periods of time.