My Little Drummer Boy & Passport Trouble

And Happy Earth Day too! Mary must have told Cam in the morning because when I got up, he said, "Happy Earth Day, Mommy!". He also said it at random times today. Umm, you're not getting any gifts for it. Ha!

Anywho, Mr. O.G. turned 9 months yesterday. I can't believe my little baby is going to be ONE in 3 months. When did this happen?!? Sure, he thinks he's ALREADY a big boy but he's not (shhhh, don't tell him). He loves attempting to climb the cat tower, trying to jump out of his jumperoo, walking around the couch, laughing at the doggies, and playing with anything that's NOT a baby toy. He also doesn't go for any fake things...he wants REAL keys and REAL remotes, not toy ones.

He can now open the toy cabinet that has mostly Cam's toys in it. Cam isn't too thrilled about this but I told him that O.G. is getting bigger and learning more things. Cam let me know that O.G.'s hands are getting bigger too.

We also take a drumming class once/week. This class was supposed to be for Cam but O.G. participates WAY more. He's now at the point where you can do a few beats and he'll repeat them. He LOVES drumming on anything and everything. Sometimes we ghetto drum...



And with his 9th month, I'll take any excuse to make cupcakes...





So, what does one do once they're 9 months? Well, they go get their passport. But seriously, we're going to Barcelona next month. Mary's going to have some meetings and she's trying to convince me to live there from 2010-2011. She's applying for a Fulbright and wants to do her sabbatical there.

Anywho, with O.G. getting a passport, I figured it was time for me to change my surname on mine to my married name. Aside from having my maiden last name on my passport (which I now have zero identification with), the picture was 8 years old and well, A LOT has changed.

I had heard rumors that it was difficult for people in a same-sex marriage to get a passport with their married name. But social security changed my name so why not passport? Apparently, the passport agency takes DOMA very seriously and won't give you a passport with your married name. At first the window clerk was going to go ahead and do it so she voided my current passport. Then some b'arch supervisor came over and started giving me the DOMA b.s. and I began ranting about being a second class citizen and that I didn't understand why social security will change the name and passport won't. I was pissed and upset. Apparently, a higher up manager over heard and came to my rescue. ***note, he was probably gay but whatever who's going to protect you if not your own*** First he told me that they could make a note of an alias on my passport. My alias being my actual name. In the end, he decided just to give me the name change and sign off on it himself. He also gave me it free of charge due to the inconvenience. Score one for the gays!

And how cute is O.G.'s passport?


On a side note, Cam will not be going on this trip. We decided that with the traveling and TIME CHANGE, it wouldn't be so great for him. Instead, he'll be spending the week in Ohio where he can play with my nephew, swim in Nana Patty's pool, and probably eat lots of junk food. Coincidentally, my dad had planned on being in Ohio during the time of our Barcelona trip so Cam will be traveling with him.

Who knows if they would've issued him a passport in his current name? After all, we did go through the roundabout with his social security card which was the easy thing for me to change. This included a copy of his old birth certificate, a copy of his new birth certificate (when you adopt, you basically get a birth certificate that says you birthed the child), a copy of the adoption certificate, and after waiting for 2 hours in the social security office to submit this paperwork, they also wanted his medical record. What is wrong with this country? I'm not sure what makes it The UNITED States of America when the federal government doesn't want to recognize state laws. But without a problem, they'll take our money.

Babies, Playgrounds & Ponds

As far as who will carry the next baby, Mary wants that duty. And I'm fine with handing it off :-) I think it will be a little weird to not be the pregnant one since I'm more of the femme one but before we started our family, we said we each wanted to carry a baby and adopt one and we're on our way to fulfilling that. With Mary carrying the baby, we get into a little bit more complication because of her work schedule and when the best time for her to birth a child is. She wants to start trying soon but I'm trying to hold her off until O.G. turns 1 which was our original plan. That's still pretty soon considering he'll be 9 months this week. But still, I just want the majority of the Summer to be without craziness. Last Summer was so hectic (adoption, move, new baby). I want this Summer to be relaxed and not revolving around Mary being or becoming pregnant which can be stressful. Plus, I feel like 2 years apart would be ideal so if we start trying after O.G. turns 1, that will probably be the age difference.

Right now, I'm on a somewhat strict diet in efforts to lose the last of the baby weight and to TONE. Toning is way more important as my actual weight is close to my goal but my body just doesn't look the way it once did. So no eating after 7:00 p.m., less carbs, and more exercise is the name of the game :-) Now that it's nicer, I've made a pact with myself that I'll walk to Cam's school to get him in the afternoon as long as the weather is cooperative. That way, I know I'll get a bit of exercise each day especially since I can power walk there while pushing O.G. in the stroller.

Anywho, Cam gets whiny about walking home but he's fine if we stop at the playground that's a good 1/2 way point. It's nice that O.G. can enjoy some of it too and of course I get some cute photos.





Today, we were at church. We love our church and have met some cool people. Since we chat with some people, it makes the post service coffee hour more enjoyable since we can actually socialize a bit. After church, we took a drive and ended up having a picnic at Walden Pond (Thoreau's inspiration). It's a beautiful area and this is a nice time to go when the weather's decent but it's not insanely packed. Again, there were a few good photo ops...




On a random side note, I'm catching the end of "The Pregnant Man" on Discovery Health. I'm not sure what to think about this entire situation. To each their own I suppose. I only think it's weird that they welcomed so much media attention and that he decided to get pregnant again so soon. I guess the media doesn't care so much the second time around since I haven't heard much about the second pregnancy. Anywho, the baby is super cute. Oh, and how did he end up having a girl???? Geesh! My feminine a** produces a boy and his masculine a** produces a girl. What?!?! ;-) Anywho, they seem like nice people.

Updates

It's been a while so I'll try to blog while O.G.'s being entertained by the dogs. Cam is in a much needed nap after a breakdown leaving school.

O.G. update: he is CRAZY. He just constantly walks around the couch and tries to climb everything. He LOVES his jumperoo that I scored for an awesome deal on craigslist.

He also does pretty good with his new walker/car. Unfortunately for him though it's best on the carpet which we don't have much of. So as soon as he hits the hardwoods from the rug, he usually falls forward. Needless to say, he has to be safely supervised when he uses it.

Cam update: he's also CRAZY in a different way. He's a good boy but he has his moments. Sometimes he's a little angel and then he's a little devil. Lately, he's just obsessed with my Wii. He constantly asks to play video games or rather "bideo games". It's fun to be able to play with him but I don't want him on the Wii for long periods of time. And of course he flips out when I make him stop playing.

Another baby is on the horizon. Well, maybe not the horizon but some sperm has been ordered. We were happy to find that O.G.'s donor was in fact available even though the online catalog said he wasn't. Unfortunately, someone had a baby that has spina bifida through the donor. So we had to sign off on some genetic stuff. But we feel pretty confident that spinabifida is a folic acid/random issue and not a direct donor issue. Anywho, we ordered some vials for storage so at least we know when we do try that we'll be able to use the same donor.

Anywho, I'll leave you with some pics...