Hoarder Story

Tyler and I have a new wishlist on TiVo for anything relating to "hoarding" and "hoarders." We have seen about 12 different shows telling the stories of compulsive hoarders. Half of these shows have been on Animal Planet, documenting the run-ins that various ASPCA groups have had with animal hoarders. The rest of the shows have focused on helping those suffering from Hoarding Disorder by helping them clean their houses and having them work with psychologists and "professional organizers." There is "Obsessed," "My Mother's Garden," "Truth Be Told: I'm a Hoarder," "Animal Hoarders," etc. And now there is now an entire series about hoarding! It is appropriately called just "Hoarders." It's fascinating.

Watching these people lose their livelihood to material possessions has gotten us in the mood for a garage sale! We went through all of our clothes, books, toys, and random crap, and will attempt to sell about half of it. It feels so great to look in my closet and see only clothes that fit me and that I wear. Amazing. It was hard to part with some things, but there is nothing that inspires you to get rid of stuff than watching people struggling to live in their own filth and rotting belongings.

Summer Updates

I cannot believe that summer is coming to an end, and little baby Calvin is 4 months old! Time really does move fast. Calvin has come a long way in the past month. He has such a passion for learning and is one of the most easy-going, good-natured people I have ever known.

This month's big milestone was that Calvin learned how to roll over! A few weeks ago, we began to find him playing on his stomach when we would leave him on his back. The scariest would be when we would put him on his back to sleep, and we'd find him on his stomach in the morning. He couldn't seem to get from his stomach back to his back. Usually babies learn this the other way around. The sad thing for Calvin is that he doesn't much like being on his stomach, so after he would excitedly roll over, he'd be upset to discover that he was stuck in a perpetual ab exercise. This got to be very frustrating to him. He has since learned how to roll back to his back again.

Now if you leave him alone on the floor, he just rolls around exploring every part of the room. It doesn't seem like a bad way to travel. The only problem is that he can only roll one way- to his left. This doesn't seem to bother him, though. Once he has reached a wall and cannot travel in that direction any longer, he maneuvers around so that he has another straight shot. His movement patterns are actually very similar to Roomba.

Besides being so rollie, he also laughs and babbles a ton. He seems so happy all the time. When we went down to Tucson for a week, I thought the change of environment and all the attention would throw him off, but he responded so cheerfully. He was an angel on the plane, slept great in the Pack N Play, and just got giggly when he was surrounded by dozens of cousins! Tyler and I are trying to follow his example and be a bit more cheery in the throes of normal life. Calvin helps us to realize what a great life we have surrounded by so many people that love us. I have felt so happy and peaceful in the past month! I am so grateful for the amazing families we have!

I am going to try to keep this short and update more often. Enjoy!