I’ve Become One of ‘Those People’

It’s true. I have, in fact, become one of “those people.” If I get really honest with myself, I probably fit into the category of “those people” for a multitude of reasons these days:

- I can’t get through a conversation without talking about my baby.
- I get really excited about Inside Edition, though I don’t yet refer to it as “the news.”
- I’ve become obsessed with coupons, to the point that I carry around a mini expand file with categorized coupon compartments.

Don’t judge. And if you know me really well, please don’t add to my list … I don’t doubt that it could go on and on. It happens to the best of us, I’m sure.

That said – today, I was not only one of “those people,” but I more specifically became “that person.”

It all started when a friend of mine mentioned the Krazy Coupon Lady in a Facebook message, and then I saw said Krazy Lady on The Early Show the next morning. If you haven’t seen her or her Web site, I suggest checking it out (www.krazycouponlady.com).

Though some of her concepts are a little hardcore for me (I’m not about to buy six Sunday paper subscriptions just to have multiple coupon inserts), others seemed like they might be worth a shot. So, this week, I started to try my hand at combining coupons with sales, doubling up where I was allowed and making the most of what is now a much tighter budget for our one-and-a-half income lifestyle.

I was proud of my wheeling and dealing on Gerber baby food at Meijer. And, I felt super saving savvy when I dropped my 30 percent-off Kohl’s coupon on already deeply discounted items to help save on holiday shopping.

But, my crowning glory came today on my trip to Crafts2000. For my husband’s family Thanksgiving, which is a potluck-style dinner, I was asked to make a variety of chocolate treats – fancied up chocolate covered Oreos, pretzels, cookies and more. In preparation, I had already bought a few things on sale during my normal weekly grocery trip. But after finding a “$1 off the purchase of any items $1 or more” coupon on the Crafts2000 Web site (www.crafts2000online.com – check out the second to last page of the circular), I decided I would get most of the chocolate, molds, super-sized marshmallows and other goodies there.

The kicker – which still makes me giddy, like Christmas came early – is that you could use “one coupon per transaction per day.” Here’s where I became “that person.” Before leaving home, I printed 20 of the $1 off coupons.

After filling my cart with 20 items I needed – only one of which was over $2 – I headed to the open check out lane at the customer service counter, figuring that register worker might resent me least. Thankfully for little Miss. Olivia’s sake, she’s still too young at 6 months old to roll her eyes or be outrageously embarrassed by her mother.

As I piled everything on the counter, I explained my plan, apologized to the woman in line behind me and kept my courage up repeating the Krazy Coupon Lady’s book title over and over again in my head (Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey).

The cashier rang each item up separately so that I could use a coupon on each – even making some things, dare I say it, FREE!

I left the store at a brisk pace and tried to restrain my urge to skip to my car – after all, I was already “that person” once today.

Christmas in October

For the most part, I’ve always been against shopping for Christmas at least until after Halloween. I’m one of those people who give a disapproving head shake in stores when plastic pumpkin candy buckets are lined up next to light up yard snowmen.

But this year, something has taken over. Her name is Olivia.

I’ve reverted back to an age where I believed in Santa, and I was ready as soon as the Fourth of July was over to start a list of toys I hoped he’d deliver.

This will be Olivia’s first Christmas, and she’ll be just a couple days over seven months old when the holiday falls. She’s mastered laughing, looks intently and curiously at everything around her and grabs anything within her reach.

What’s more, the best toy anyone could possibly give her is paper – especially shiny, glittered, super-crinkly, bright red paper.

I already have a head full of images of her sitting on the floor between my husband and me next to the Christmas tree as the little white twinkle lights shine. She’ll have no idea who Santa is, nor will she care that a few extra special gifts will be marked from him in my best Santa handwriting.

I can’t wait to see her tear the paper off and – after I’ve taken the paper away so she doesn’t try to eat it – give a little Olive giggle about the new toy wrapped inside.

Halloween doesn’t fall until tomorrow, but I’m pretty well done with Christmas shopping for my little ladybug – minus only the spur-of-the-moment things I’ll find over the next couple months. She’s even set with an adorable Christmas dress already. OK, so maybe she has two adorable Christmas dresses, but trust me, she needs them both.

She’s not even old enough to sit up on her own yet, so I know logically that she won’t remember this Christmas. That said, I know it will be one of the many that I’ll never forget.

Red Eye

Can repeated camera flashes permanently damage a baby’s eyes? I sure hope not. If they can, my camera breaking gave Olivia about a month of safety, but now, trouble is once again on the horizon.

The lens on the camera my husband got me less than three years ago got stuck in the out position just before I could snap a shot of one of my nieces crossing the finish line at a cross country meet about a month ago. I was sad that I didn’t get the perfect picture of her I’d set myself up for. I was disheartened when pushing the power button repeatedly a few hundred times – which worked in the past – did nothing but cause me additional frustration.

Since Olivia’s birth, I’ve been slightly obsessed with taking many – as in sometimes 40 or so – photos of her daily. I’m pretty sure I’ve almost gotten in the shower once or twice with the camera still wrapped around my wrist. I need help.

After a week of trying to fix the camera, I took it to a local camera shop in hopes they could give me an easy fix. To my dismay, the store owner said the best he could do was sent the camera in to Canon (please note that I no longer recommend anyone purchase a Canon camera), but that I’d save money by just buying a new camera. He then said, “If it were me, and I was at the end of the road with a camera, I’d hit it a few times before buying a new one. It can’t hurt at this point – but I won’t do it for you.” I left the store with little hope.

When I got in my car, I took his advice, used all my strength to shove the lens back in the camera and held my breath as I hit Power again. “Lens error. Restart camera,” it taunted me for the 500^th time. Worthless piece of crap camera.

On my birthday I ordered a new, pink, pocket-sized Sony Cyber-shot camera from Best Buy after explaining to the sales clerk that the most important feature in my choice of new camera would be shutter speed. I pointed to my lovely, smiling Olivia saying, “I can’t miss catching any more of her smiles.”

Two weeks later I had – not the camera I ordered because of who knows what happened with my order – a new, black, pocket-sized camera and I’ve been back to my click-crazy self. I can’t get enough of recording every precious moment of Olivia’s life – her smiles, her milestones, her curious looks as she learns something new, her sleep and general enthusiasm for life. I’m hoping camera flashes can’t do any permanent damage because I don’t foresee my addition to my daughter’s cuteness dying down any time soon.

Family Matters

Earlier this month, my grandfather – my dad’s dad – passed away of prostate cancer at age 91. He was a strong man who worked hard to take care of his family and teach his children right from wrong.

Though no one was happy that my grandfather, who I called Papi Hugo, died, there was some peace in the fact that in recent years he had developed many illnesses, including the cancer. He had lived a long, fulfilling life, and in my heart I believe his death allowed him to be free of any pain and suffering he would have continued to endure had he stayed with us.

I was not as close with Papi Hugo as I was with my mom’s father – not because I didn’t want to be, but simply because of location. Papi Hugo lived in Ecuador, where my dad, his five brothers and six sisters were all born. Since I was born 27 years ago, I remember him visiting the states once, when my brother was born, and I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to Ecuador a couple times to visit him – most recently in 2007.

It’s taken me a couple weeks to write this because every time I’ve started I’ve been too sad to finish. Though I’m happy my grandfather is at peace, I selfishly with he could have stayed long enough to meet my husband and my daughter.

After I got married in 2008, my husband and I planned to go on a trip to visit my family in Ecuador, but we quickly decided the money we would have spent on a trip would be more practically put toward our new home so we would have a place to start a family of our own.

I didn’t get to see my grandfather often, but I know he would have loved my husband, Dan, and my daughter, Olivia. He was proud of my marriage and excited about Olivia’s birth four months ago.

It was hard not getting to go to Papi Hugo’s funeral to say a final goodbye, but I know he knows our hearts were there with my parents, who were able to make the trip.

I look forward to teaching Olivia about her past, about our extended family, and doing my best to introduce her to parts a family and a culture that she doesn’t get to see every day. I’ll start by putting a photo of my dad’s parents in Olivia’s baby book with a notes about how much her Great-Grandpa wanted to meet her.

The Sixth Sense

I’m still relatively new at this whole Mom thing. My daughter, Olivia, is just over 3 months old, so I realize I’m not supposed to be an expert at parenting yet. That said, throughout my pregnancy and now in my adventures as a mom, I continue to stumble on facts that I’m convinced all others parents know but neglected to share – useful tidbits the pregnancy and parenting books leave out.

One of these “facts” is that my daughter has a sixth sense. While she’s still developing her main five senses, Olivia came pre-programed with her special sixth sense, as I now have a feeling most babies do. My daughter has a keen sense for waking up from the soundest sleep with impeccable timing.

It was kind of funny and cute at first. It was like she didn’t want to miss anything, didn’t want to be left out of the fun. Admittedly though, it’s become much less funny and much more tiring.

Olivia seems to know the second my head hits the pillow or the moment I get myself tucked tightly under the covers. The string of red baby-monitor lights that alert my husband and me to her noises instantly flash the second we decide we’ll steal a few minutes of peace to snuggle on the couch. As soon as his arm wraps around my shoulder and my head falls with exhaustion on his chest, she begins her process of tossing, turning, furiously kicking her blanket off her legs and yelping to be fed and rocked back to sleep.

Do all babies have an internal sensor alerting them to Mommy rest, relaxation and snuggling that doesn’t involve them? Or is my little one super-advanced for her age, with hidden cameras throughout our house? And what’s more, is that a baby-sized “Bwahahaha” I sometimes hear from her crib just before I go into her room?

I think this is one of many baby habits that are here to stay for at least the very near future. And, in the bigger picture, things like this are what truly hit me where it hurts. They directly contradict my inherent need to be in control. It honestly didn’t quite sink in until she arrived after the nearly 10 months of anticipation – Olivia is, in fact, the boss.

At least until the days when she understand “No” and “Stop,” until she can minimally say “MaMa,” and until she eats more than just breast milk, I’m at her mercy. Until then, I’ll have to settle for little sleep and little rest in exchange for her big smiles, chubby cheeks, high-pitched giggles and big blue eyes full of unending love. Definitely not the worst deal I’ve made.