Monday, February 23, 2009

I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me...

I always feel like somebody's watchin' me
And I have no privacy
I always feel like somebody's watching me
Tell me it can't be

Stealing from Aunt Jen's "theme song" blog title idea, I just thought this song sums up nicely how I feel about things going on here. My mom will not let me get into ANYTHING! She is constantly throwing toys in front of me, but doesn't she realize that if she gives me an object to play with, I immediately lose all interest in said object. For instance, I would much rather play with a remote control than any of my toys - and don't try to pull that whole "old remote with no batteries in it trick" - I fell for that when I was younger but I am much older and wiser now. She doesn't get that I would much rather figure out how to get that silly child proof plastic guard off the front of the DVD player than to figure out how to match up the animal shapes on my fridge magnet game. And I would much, much, much rather play in the water in Millie's bowl than ANYTHING else in the whole wide world.

For the most part, I try to be obedient, but since I've learned to crawl, I just want to explore all of the new things I'm finding around the house. Mom usually does a pretty good job keeping the child locks on the lower cabinet doors and keeping the doors to "non Camden proofed rooms" shut but I am always on the lookout for a slip up on her part. And since I am getting faster and faster everyday, if she ever does take her eyes off me for a second, I seize the opportunity to get into something I know I shouldn't. Like earlier today, she forgot to close the door to the little room in her bathroom where the "magic water-swirling machine" is - I love to pull up and stand next to the water and today I found out that my arms are long enough to reach the pretty blue water in the bottom. Oooh boy, she was not happy when she found me. First we had a "come to Jesus meeting" and then I got a bath. I didn't mind so much the meeting (mom laughed most of the way through it) and I love taking baths. With this stunt, I got to play in the water twice today!

Just know that I do this all for you, dear faithful blog readers. I figure the more stuff I get into, the more she'll have to blog about. And I'd love to write more now...to tell you all about the front page of the Sports Illustrated I ate yesterday or how much I love to pull the lint out of the lint catcher in the front of the dryer and eat it, but mom's busy in the kitchen so I need to get going... Now let's see, where did she lay that Sharpie?

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Here's Your Sign

So I've been using some sign language with Camden since he was about six months old. At first, he just kinda stared at me like I was crazy. When he was about nine months old he finally figured out the sign for "more" and trust me, when it comes to Cheerios, he has that one down like a champ.

He's recently added "dog" to his list since I do the sign for it every time I try to explain that he can't play in Millie's water bowl because that belongs to the "dog" (pat leg repeatedly). On rare occasion he'll say please and we're now working a little more diligently on thank you.

We've been using ASL signs but now we have a new one from the CMF sign language dictionary. This is the sign for "oh my gosh I love to eat food"... enjoy!


Excited About Eating from Mandy Jo on Vimeo.

Friday, February 6, 2009

What's New With the Foster's???

A million things... I am so overwhelmed with it all I don't even know where to start!!!

Let's see... I know I posted some info about Christmas a while back with the promise of some pictures. I'll do one better and give you a couple of videos to watch:

These are of our Christmas here in Dallas which we actually celebrated on January 1st.

Camden's First Christmas Gift from Mandy Jo on Vimeo.

Playing with Christmas Gift from Mandy Jo on Vimeo.

Camden really loves this zoo - and because he presses the button over and over and over again, the songs will forever be stuck in my head. I know the day is coming when Ryan arrives home after a long day at work to find me curled up in the fetal position, rocking back and forth singing "animals, animals, animals from places near and far...they make their home right in the zoo, where each one is a star!" I need to find out if they make medication specifically to alleviate the pain of Fisher Price jingles.

Things settled down after the holidays for about...oh, 2 hours...and then the packing, sorting, cleaning began for the move into our new house. We closed mid-January and then I spent a week or so painting almost every room in the new place (jmf, I needed you desperately!) I did have a lot of help - friends offering to watch Camden so I could work, guys from Sunday School that helped move box after box after box, and one super-friend who came over and helped with the painting for about 10 hours.


This is Jennifer - aka super painter - up in the niches in the foyer... Thank goodness she came over, I never really was a fan of heights.

Indulge me for a moment and let me say thanks to those that helped - I'd still be at it if it weren't for all of your help.

When it was time to take all the painter's tape off, it somehow attacked Camden and got stuck to his leg. A good mom would have run to his aid and helped him crawl away from it... I ran to get the camera and laughed my butt off instead...











Once I had most everything done, we "officially" moved in. That's when the cardboard boxes starting mating and multiplying. I swear...every time I got one emptied, I'd turn around and there'd be three more in its place!

Luckily, my mom had already planned a trip out here before we really knew any of this would be going on, and she was here for eight days of glorious unpacking bliss. Back in the day when family would visit we'd go to local attractions - the zoo, a baseball game, Mt. Rushmore, etc. - but now the entertainment lives at our house so we don't have to go anywhere! Mom was content to sit on the floor and listen to the Fisher Price jingles so I had lots and lots of time to unpack. I even decided to tackle painting the dining room red... which I am still working on everyday for 1-2 hours (i.e. during nap time). I figure it'll get done eventually, right? Besides...if I don't have it done by the end of the month, my mother-in-law is coming for a visit and she's even more into Fisher Price jingles than my mom is!

Here's a picture of the new place. When we get things done on the inside, I'll post a few more - no one wants to see my half painted dining room. :o)

So that's about all that's been going on with us. Ryan's busy with work but loving (just about) every minute of it, I'm staying busy keeping up with a kid that can crawl about 40 mph, and Millie's staying busy trying to avoid said kid getting ahold of her tail. All in all...life as usual. :o)