Christmas letter 2007

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or Just Festivous to all of our wonderful family and friends! The Blackwood’s have had a wonderful year full of travels, parties, weddings, and school functions. We have traveled to the Bay Area 9 times, spent a total of 6 weeks in the LA/San Diego area, been to Las Vegas 4 times, a week in Cabo San Lucas, and traveled the greater Northwest (Bend, Diamond Lake, Portland, and Seattle) just to name a few places. We have been to 17 weddings in 18 months, and yet still have found the time to fall in love with our new hometown of Eugene. James and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary together this year, and have gone through some body transformations. All in all, it has been a very good year!

This has been the first full year that I have been a stay-at-home mom and I must confess that this is a really hard job. I have found that my competitive drive that I had in the work field has followed me onto the playground scene. This first realization hit me in February when my not-quite 2 year old son was playing with a 2 year old girl and her mom was shocked that my son was not potty trained (he will be 3 in March and is still not potty trained. DO NOT JUDGE ME PEOPLE! This was a lot easier when daycare did it for Alyssa). I quickly taught my son to respond by saying blue when I pointed to a color. The next time I met up with this mom, I pointed to something that was blue and asked Jimmy to respond with the correct color. When he responded “blue” the other mom became horrified that her daughter did not know her colors yet. I gave her a reassuring smile and told her that I am sure that her daughter was fine, but it was probably wise to make a doctor’s appointment just to make sure. I mentally flipped her off with both of my middle fingers while walking away from her. I bet she does not try to make me feel like an inadequate mother again.

This year has also taught me a lesson about the toy industry. 2007 will go down as the year of the famous toy recalls. Every morning the first thing I do is click on PerezHilton.com (err, I mean cnn.com or something educational like that). After reading the morning news, I find out that another toy has been recalled. I am well versed on the 1200 different types of toys that have been recalled. You want to know why? We have 1198 of them! Want to hear a confession? I have not returned one of these toys. So much of my time has been wasted reading about all of the toy recalls that occur on a day to day basis, that I do not have time to run down to the post office every 2 hours to return the next toy on the list. I attempted to return a toy I saw that had been recalled and there is all sorts of red tape you have to go through in order to get another toy that has hopefully (but not always the case) been painted with good paint. So you go to the website and they want you to look at the box the toy came in and if it has serial number x, and it has been purchased between such and such date, and it has been purchased at a few specific stores, than it is part of the recall. Uh, hello? Is there anybody out there that saves every box from every toy ever purchased? I know, I know, you think that I can easily just throw out the affected toys if that is the case. There is nothing easy about that proposition. Are you going to explain and deal with the wrath of my children when there is no Thomas the Train or Dora paraphernalia to entertain them any longer? I did not think so. Bottom line, if you have a child that has a tendency to suck on toys covered with lead based paint, it is probably not a good idea to come to our home.

Alyssa is going to Catholic school full time right now for Pre-Kindergarten. I am learning the blessings and downfalls of sending my child to Catholic school. The greatest blessing is if she acts up, all I have to do is ask “Is Jesus in your heart right now when you say these things to me?” I find that the fear of GOD can straighten her right up! The downfall is my child likes to give me a good dose of Catholic guilt whenever I choose to use a word (or a string of cuss words, which is a better way to explain it, because once I start swearing it is like I have Tourettes Syndrome or something. I physically can not stop it! It is not very becoming of a mother). She is like a Police Officer with all of her corrections, but a very girly girl Police Officer. She has to wear a skirt or dress everyday, and must have her accessories (which include a fake Barbie cell phone, sunglasses, necklaces, and Barbie heels, all with her matching pink purse) with her at all times. I have to do her hair every morning and if she does not like it, she tells me I need to do it again (I never succumb to her demands however, and usually begin doing that cuss word thing I just explained about when she talks to me like that. It becomes a vicious cycle.) I have been told on more than one occasion that she reminds people of Paris Hilton. Ohhhhh lucky me! She likes to correct them though and advise that she is like Hannah Montana, not that Paris girl. Since Hannah Montana is supporting her family at the grand old age of 13, I can definitely handle her as an inspiration to my daughter.

Jimmy is growing up so fast. He will be at Alyssa’s school next year as well (cross your fingers). He has been showing his stubborn side though lately, as we try to do the potty training thing. It is not like he does not like the bathroom. He lives in the bathroom. It is his favorite room to torture me in our home. His favorite pastimes include finding as many objects around the home to flush down the toilet (half the time he is successful, half the time the toilet overflows), getting baby powder and throwing it all over the bathroom to represent “snow” and gathering all of the towels and wash clothes, stuffing them in the sink, and then running water over them until the sink overflows. I read somewhere that he may be afraid of the toilet and I “need to make a game of going potty”. I threw in some Cheerios into the toilet and he just flushed them down. He then proceeded, when I was not looking mind you, to dump the entire contents of the Cheerios box into the toilet and flush. Can you believe that every last Cheerio from the box went down in one flush? So after that unsuccessful lesson, I read that he may have grown too accustomed to his diaper and I need to just take it of and allow him to “be free.” Can you guess what happened next? He was like a puppy in a new home, marking up his territory everywhere he went. Maybe I should follow the puppy potty training techniques and spray him in the face with a spray bottle every time he pees on my floor/wall/couch. That probably isn’t an accepted technique, but it sure as hell will make me feel better.

This year has been very informative for me as a stay at home mom. Here are some highlights:
1. Getting called into the Principles office at Alyssa’s school, not for something that she did, but for something that I did. I must say, it takes a lot of talent to get called into the Principles office 10 years after graduating from High School.
2. Having to clean up my child’s car sickness after forgetting to pack wipes and towels for the 8 hour car trip. I improvised with antiseptic wipes from the Emergency Kit, like any other rational mom would do (actually, James did all of the cleaning while I did most of the gagging). I am telling you, you have not truly traveled until you have traveled with 2 children under the age of 5… in a car the smells of a mixture of puke and rubbing alcohol… with two broken windows that don’t roll down.
3. Having my daughter tell me that she is having HOT FLASHES (yes, she is 4), and that I must get the air conditioning fixed before she DIES (with her hand over her forehead and her eyes fluttering. Think somebody spends a lot of time with her multiple grandmothers and honorary grandmothers?

After all is said and done though, I find that I am actually enjoying staying at home with my children (at least I thought I did until I wrote this letter). They are cute kids, who are moderately behaved, and continue to amaze us with their growing personalities. James and I are truly blessed with our lives, and I can not think of one thing that I would change about it. James had a very successful year with Aramark, and continues to enjoy his time with his market center. We have made some really great friends here (does anybody else make jello shots during play dates? Oh you don’t, umm, neither do we). We have become huge Oregon Duck fans and try to get in as many games as possible. James has enjoyed quite a few ESPN Game Day events and hosting more than a few tailgates. Thank God his bar-b-que skills are so great. He single handedly has made us the most popular couple at the games. That and all the alcohol we always give out. I do know how lucky I am to have him.

We miss you all and hope that you have had a wonderful 2007 followed by an even greater 2008. Keep in touch. We love to get updates as well. Our door is always open, come and visit us anytime.
Love always,
The Blackwood’s
James IV, Stephanie, Alyssa, and Jimmy V

Email: Steph_Blackwood@yahoo.com

P.S. Do you think it is wrong that I used the address labels for the Christmas cards that different charities have sent us when asking for donations, and we have never donated to them? I feel kind of guilty.
P.P.S Did anybody else notice the strategically placed star on our Christmas card that covers my new cleavage line. I bet you all look at the Christmas card one more time to see what I am talking about.