Where've I been?

It's been seven months since I posted. SEVEN months. Pretty sure that's why I told only five people in the entire universe that I was starting a blog. Plus, by referencing a less-than-perfectionistic personality type in the title of my blog, I gave myself full reign to blame my type-B-ness on why I just couldn't get it done. Yep, I pretty much should have predicted in my first post that this seven month hiatus was going to happen. But that would have taken the suspense out of my return, now wouldn't it?

So, here's a summary of the past seven months:

There was Christmas - we were just the three amigos with me 9 months pregnant!

Then, Tater Tot was born - 1.2.08 weighing in at a tiny 6lb, 14 oz.

Then, I went back to work with a 5 WEEK old.

Somehow, in spite of the insanity of work, the drug best known as Facebook and the months of interrupted sleep, we survived.

But with our Type B life, the fun never ends. Now, we've started a new chapter entitled "Daddy is in California". . .which led me back to my blog tonight. Not only have I found some time to do more than survive, I've been handed a reason to get my nose out of Facebook and onto a blog.

Now I know millions have lived the life of having a travelling spouse for years, but Shaun and I have not. Ever. NEVER. As a matter of fact, we pretty much thrive on our co-dependency. When I type the words "Shaun is going to be in California more-or-less every other week for the next six months," it pretty much feels like a joke that's not at all funny. So, somewhere in the midst of the Fowler family version of "legal day 1," I decided the suspense of when to return to the blog must end. Now. Tonight.

Here's our Type-B life, Shaun, for you to enjoy from afar!

At last - a post!

So at least a couple of the seven or so of you who know about this blog have mentioned that I haven't posted lately. . .like in three days shy of a month! What happened to the last month? A series of days and things to do - I know we've had fun and now I'm going to think back on what might be worth retelling!

One obsession to another

My family likes to tease me about news anchor Campbell Brown being my BFF. And the thing is, she IS my pretend BFF. It all started back during the 2000 presidential campaign. She covered W on the road throughout the election, and I just loved her. Then, she covered the White House for NBC. Then, after David Bloom died in Iraq and Soledad O'Brien left NBC for CNN, she got my favorite post of all: anchor of Weekend Today. I just knew she would be Katie Couric's replacement for the big gig on the Today Show. Well, that didn't happen but it just didn't faze my admiration for her.

Now let's be clear here, Campbell is not my first pretend BFF. From the moment she appeared on the cover of a magazine back in 1980, Lady Diana Spencer was my pretend BFF. You think I'm kidding? Ask my mom who stared at EVERY page of Diana in each month's Good Housekeeping. It wasn't my mom!! I adored Diana - her smile, her style, her unbelievable wedding, the fact that she got more beautiful with age. On her wedding day, my dad got up with me before the sun came up to watch every moment of coverage. On the night she died, I stayed up until nearly 3am watching the news reports and features come in. For her funeral, I again got up and watched each sad step while the sun rose on this side of the pond. But that was '97, I was 21, and there had to be someone out there to replace her. Three years later, along came Campbell.

Well, fast forward to tonight. My pretend BFF, who happens to be due to deliver a little boy two weeks before I'm due to deliver my little boy, has been in a job transition for the past few months. As a matter of fact, she announced she was leaving NBC and the Today Show the exact same weekend I found out I got my new, fabulous job. (You see, we have soooo much in common! Babies together, job changes together. . .the list goes on) And tonight, for the first time since July, she was on TV moderating the Democratic presidential debate.

So, I marked my calendar, got my TV all set to CNN and was totally ready to watch MY Campbell Brown on HER CNN debut. Then, something called hormones took over. You see, since I am now well into my third trimester of pregnancy, just about any obsession I have can easily be overrun by a new, hormonally-induced obsession - like organizing the armoire in my bedroom. And that is what suddenly took precedent tonight.

For a year, I've opened the doors to the armoire and blankly stared at the array of pajamas, sweatsuits, bathing suits and hodgepodge clothing Shaun and I allowed to pile up. In no way did the pile bother me, much less scream to me "get organized!!!" Then, about two weeks ago, I started hearing this little voice in my head telling me "get the armoire organized. . .buy canvas bins from Lowe's. . .label each one. . .fill the armoire with pretty little bins to organize the mess!!!!" By tonight, the voice had gone from a whisper to a scream.

So driven by obsession, Cam and I ventured to Lowe's in the cold wind, checked out his favorite Christmas decorations (Santa driving the Jimmie Johnson Lowe's 48 inflatable and the Santa snowglobe inflatable), and bought NINE canvas bins for the armoire. We came home, ate pizza, turned on CNN to watch my pretend BFF, then promptly walked away to tend to my REAL obsession, getting organized. An hour later, when I went back downstairs to rewind the debate so I could see MY Campbell Brown ask questions, I realized my DVR had taken over, was taping both The Office and Grey's Anatomy, and had stopped chase recording the debate. And I had to once again accept the power of hormones - the only thing that could take me from one obsession to another.

The look-alike-meter

Only 3% more like me than Shaun?????? I cannot believe it! Shaun says I need to pick a different picture. . .

I picked a different one to do my "celebrity-look-alike" comparison. . .I held my breath and ended up paired with Debra Messing!!! Not too shabby. Now I want Rebecca to do this so it can say she's a look-alike with Sheryl Crow!!

First-ever family photos

Our family has never been to have professional pictures taken. That would require organization, planning and effort. We are more likely to help someone else make arrangements for their family photos than to do it for ourselves. Not that we have a pictureless life.

A wonderful and talented friend came along for Cam's baptism to capture the candid moments in sweet style. When my sister got married, her fabulous wedding photographer took a couple of great shots of Cam. Then one time for my mom's birthday, Cam and I went to Portrait Innovations with my brother and his kids to have pictures of all the grandkids taken for nana. But we have never, ever all gotten ready for the purpose of having our pictures taken as a family. . .until this weekend.

You see, my sister is this amazingly talented person. She can paint, draw, build itty-bitty models of great big buildings and design incredible buildings that could actually be built! Perhaps more importantly, she takes beautiful, amazing pictures of my little boy. Literally every framed photo of my child in my house was taken by my sister. And now, she's ready to share her talent with the world (or at least my friends and friends of my friends).

This weekend, Rebecca came to town to photograph four Charlotte families who trusted her to take their family photos. She did an amazing job - and worked her tiny little butt off getting the perfect shots for each family. Then, she suggested perhaps Shaun, Cam and I could come down after her last shoot and let her take some pictures of us. . .as a family! Then we would be all ready to make our Christmas cards and get them out before brunch on Christmas eve, which has always seemed to me a perfect deadline for sending out Christmas cards.

So Sunday morning, we got up, got clean, got dressed and showed up, all spiffy, to have Rebecca take our pictures. True to form, Rebecca got us just right. Cam's hair is less than perfect, Shaun and I only occasionally looked at the camera at the same time and yet Rebecca caught us in lovely light, truly happy to be there. I've included four of the shots - totally beautiful pictures that likely won't make the Christmas card. These have not been edited or even touched up by Rebecca - she could make them look even better than they already are.

So now we have family pictures we can use for Christmas cards - and it's just the 12th of November! Let's see when I get the cards actually done. . .

What is the Type B life?

We know most reading this blog would never say, "The Fowlers are such Type B personalities." Shaun's a workaholic whose OCD's make me wonder if the future version of my husband will look something akin to Jack Nicholson's character in "As Good As it Gets." I'm intense, in this unintentional way where even when I think I'm coming off all calm and relaxed people comment on my energy and enthusiasm. Cam is particular in a loving way - he likes his forks to be blue, his Ovaltine milk to be unshaken, his shirts to not have buttons and lots of privacy when going potty. And the baby, yes, the unnamed one still in my tummy, is so good at kicking he wakes Shaun up at night. We all sort of embody versions of Type A personalities in one way or another.

But our life - the cleaning or healthy-eating or taking Cam out on adventures part of our life - is VERY type B. We'll sleep great with dirty dishes in the sink and prefer to sleep through the early morning wake-up calls that come with parenting. We feel our "tradition" of sitting around on the weekend in our pajamas is just as valid as the families with THOUGHTFUL traditions like going out to breakfast or the Farmer's Market or grocery shopping. We let a lot of things go - like getting Cam to preschool on time or putting our clean clothes away - but we care about many things and many people and our jobs and we care about each other more than anything.

Type A people living The Type B Life!