Time is Flying

Oh my goodness! Where does the time go? Driving into work this morning I realized that it is only a week before Christmas. It seems like Thanksgiving was just last week. I think (hope) that I am done shopping except for stocking stuffers. Still have to clean the house good since John's folks will be here on Sunday.

Cami is now 5 months old and growing every day. She is now turning over from her back to her stomach (her preferred position), laughing versus giggling and holding her bottle for short periods of time. She is doing the "swim", so I don't think it will be long before she starts crawling. I glanced around the living room the other day and decided that I would have to start thinking about what needed to be child-proofed.

I don't know how Paula does it with five kids. I took care of Cami on Saturday since Sara had to work and I had appointments and errands that I needed to take care of. I guess I forgot how much extra effort it is to have a baby with you when you do those things. I didn't get everything done because of the extra time spent feeding her, changing her diaper and just getting her in and out of the car. Hmmm - wonder if part of that is just me getting older. :) Oh well, it was fun for both of us and we had good naps that afternoon.

We've never been very good about getting family pictures done. Sara pointed out that we haven't had one taken since she was in elementary school. Our goal in the next week is to see if we can't get Jason home for a little while and go get some done. In the meantime, this is one of Cami that her Grandma Dora had taken. She was nice enough to give us one. The dress is one that Dora bought for her. I love the expression on Cami's face.

Cami is really starting to roll over from her back to her stomach at will. She is still working on going from her stomach to her back. She is also trying to hold her bottle and is sucking on her lower lip a lot (I remember both Jason and Sara doing that). Being a grandparent is pretty awesome. It is less stressful than being a parent and we seem to be noticing all of the milestones of her growing up more than with our own kids. I thank God daily for bringing this precious bundle into our lives.

Catching Up

Finally got the computer working, so here are some more pictures. This first one was taken in the hospital the day Cami was born with her Uncle Jason. Doesn't he just look like the proudest uncle? One of the first things he does when he comes home is pick her up no matter who is holding her.

Cami loves to sleep with Poppy. I think they were watching the football game and didn't last long. Cami likes to watch football, and it doesn't seem to matter who is playing.

Sara and Cami went Trick-or-Treating with a half dozen of their friends. Luckily for all of us they didn't bring back a ton of candy. Not that Cami could eat any of it to begin with.

Thanksgiving was a good day. John's youngest brother David came into town and made John some oyster dressing in place of his mom. Jason also came home for dinner and did some damage to the turkey. Cami was at her other grandparents house until 3pm, so we waited to eat our dinner until halftime of the Cowboy game. Sorry your Lions didn't win Rich. We had so much food that I think we will be eating it for the next week easily. The picture below is Cami in her highchair waiting for us to sit down and eat.

Good News, Bad News, Good News, Bad News. . .

Good news = I get my braces off finally (after more than two years).

Bad news = they don't have a spot available until January 9 because of the holidays, etc. So it looks like I won't have them off by Chrismas unless someone cancels between now and then. Oh well, I guess I can wait another few weeks after this long.

Good news = I don't have to wear any more rubber bands except at night. For those that know, I have had to wear the rubber bands in one form or another for a little over a year.

Last bad news = we are having issues with our computer at home, so even though I have gotten the pictures back and can scan them in, I can't post them until we get it up and going again. Verizon thinks it is our modem, so they are sending a new one to us; just don't know how long that will take.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving! We will be thinking of you.

Dad's Home

Well, Dad got home from the hospital Thursday evening. He's doing really good and glad to be at home. Looks like I won the bet with Cindy and all her girls are giving her a hard time about it. Cindy - I think that makes up for the fact that we didn't put up anything on that bet.

Life continues along as normal at the Whitehead household. John's youngest brother David will be here for Thanksgiving and so will Jason. Don't know if we will have other "stragglers", but they are welcome to show up. It looks like John's parents are going to wait and come for Christmas.

We went to court yesterday morning and got a "temporary" order regarding visitation, child support, etc. Everyone was civil and just want to get all the legal stuff out of the way. We have agreed to let the Haskins (other side of Cami's family) have her Thanksgiving day from 10am-3pm, then she comes back home for Thanksgiving dinner here. We are going to sit down together (yes, all of us) and work out a visitation schedule for holidays. I feel confident that we can work everything out now without having to pay the lawyers.


Sara starts a new job on Monday at the Corner Bakery that just opened about 2 miles from the house. She will be working during the day, so daycare for Cami shouldn't be a problem. Cami is trying to hold her own bottle and roll over. She is a good baby, but she does have her mother's temper especially when it comes to food. When she says it is time to eat, it is time to eat!

I'm going to drop off some film to be developed today, so hopefully I'll have some new pictures to post next week. I told John we need to get a new digital camera for ourselves as a Christmas present. Of course, I still expect something more under the tree. :-)

Back From Vegas

I got home Tuesday afternoon with no problems from my visit to see Dad in Las Vegas. He was looking good when I said goodbye on Monday night. If you want to see some pictures of Dad, go to Rich's blog (Little Brother on the right). It was hard to come back, but made easier by the fact that he is doing well. Cindy and I have a "bet" going on when he will be able to go home. We had both picked Friday, but since we can't have the same day I relented and let her have Friday and I (being the optimist I am) took Thursday.
I didn't plan to do any sightseeing while there, so I didn't bring my camera with me. Not that it would have made a difference since the digital is broken and I would have to get the pictures developed, then scan them into the computer to post. Oh well, hopefully Rich and/or Joe will send me a couple to post on the site (hint, hint).
We did do a couple of things on Monday like go to Hoover Dam (very impressive) and to Red Rock Canyon. Can't wait to get to Vegas again to do some hiking in Red Rock. Since it was late in the afternoon when we got there, there wasn't much time to walk around.
That's all for now. I'll try to add more stuff by next week before the in-laws come in for Thanksgiving.

We've Joined 'Em!

Since most of the family has joined the "blogging" world, we decided it was our turn. The entries may be far between since life tends to be very hectic, but we'll make it the whole family's responsibility to keep it updated.

Life in the Whitehead home has been crazy busy the last few months. Jason went to Louisiana to live and work with John's younger brother David. He was going to go to school in Baton Rouge and play baseball, but his arm wasn't cooperating for him. He came back home in August, stayed at home for a couple of months and is now living with a friend in Richardson (a suburb of Dallas).

Sara was keeping busy being a mom to our beautiful granddaughter Camryn, going to school and working for the neighbors. On Friday, October 26, she graduated from high school. We are very proud of how determined she has been in getting her diploma. She no longer works for the neighbor and is looking for another job while still being a mom. As soon as she is settled into another job, she will start taking some college courses. She is an awesome mom (darn if she isn't a natural at it), and Camryn, Cami for short, is a happy good natured baby.

John and I, of course, are still busy working. At the first of September I left Perot Systems, after almost 16 years, and am now working for a consulting firm in Dallas. I have been assigned to an account in the Dallas area and have been learning my new duties.

After starting the year unemployed, John found a position the end of April with the Schwan's Food Company delivering to grocery stores. Besides home delivery, Schwans carries the Tony's, Red Baron and Freshetta line of frozen pizzas and other frozen goodies.

All in all, life is good. We all have our health and each other. And now, hopefully, we can stay more connected with our spread out family.