After The Tenth..... When The Fun Really Begins

"I will survive"

Actually, I have survived my first week back to work...just barely. After Macy's arrival, I was lucky enough to be able to take just over two weeks off, to assist Annie and to get to know my daughter. Unfortunately, that two week reprieve from the real world has ended and now I'm back at work and back to my responsibilities. To make matters even more fun, the parent company of our consulting firm has merged with a national CPA firm, so my return to work hasn't been gentle.

Since this week has been so hectic, there is no real point in trying to organize my thoughts and this will just be a random, hectic posting.

1) We are hoping Grandpa Kupper continues to feel better and will be able to arrive on Monday!

2) Since all of Macy's grandparents are non-Floridians, we have used video phone calls to keep them involved in her development. The two images below are a pretty common occurrence in our house:

3) I'm tired

4) Annie's tired

5) Binky's (pacifiers) are like crack for kids. We initially thought of the Binky as evil and we didn't want our daughter getting too used to one, but Macy will be screaming and shaking with her bottom lip quivering and you drop in that binky and the wails instantly stop and are replaced with this very humorous sucking sound. Here's my tip for new parents or future parents..ALWAYS have a binky handy.

5) It's very cool that every night when I come home from work, Macy seems to have progressed in some area or another. Yesterday she started assisting in the holding of the binky in her mouth. She can now grab the side of it while she sucks on it.

6) Macy doesn't realize it, but she's living through a record breaking Florida day...its supposed to hit 32 tonight....OUCH.

 7) My daughter does not flinch at bright lights or flashes. I'm thinking that this un-staged photo from two weeks ago might have something to do with it.

I'm going to break from our normal happy go-lucky tone for just a moment here because I'm now on a personal mission against Toy R Us and Babies R Us due to their very frustrating return policy.

Imagine this scenario: You have friends that decide to get you baby gifts. It turns out that two of your friends have the same taste and you wind up with a duplicate item or outfit. No problem right? Just exchange one of them for another item that you haven't received. If they shopped at Babies R Us, then the answer is NO, it is a problem.

It seems that their official policy is to "reserve the right to decline returns without a receipt", which actually means they will never let you return your items, even if you are a pregnant woman in her 9th month and you have asked very politely at multiple store locations. Not only won't they let you return the items, but you cannot exchange them either. We aren't registered at either of these stores, but we confirmed that even if we were, they still wouldn't take back the items without a receipt. This policy is probably fiscally smart, but is definitely not customer service smart.

What was really helpful though, was that Babies R Us store manager provided two alternative suggestions to him allowing the product exchange:

1) We should call the people who bought us the item and ask them to give us their sales reciept so we could return their gift. Wouldn't that be a CLASSY move?

2) We should take the product back to a specific competitor of theirs, because they aren't a national chain and "they take anything back." He came up with this brilliant strategy even after Annie informed him that we researched the product and his store was the only one to sell this brand....no luck.

So now I'm using my little forum to kick off my "Babies R Us Ain't For Us" campaign. I'm asking all of you to avoid registering or even shopping at Babies R Us/Toy R US as they are very difficult to deal with.

The silver lining in this whole experience is that we have a gift card or two from these stores and when we go and buy diapers with them, we won't have to worry about duplicates being an issue. I've heard a rumor that you can never had too many diapers.

I don't think anyone would be shocked if I told them that I had quite a bit to be thankful for this year. With such an amazing wife, how could I not be thankful? We are now within 3 weeks of the scheduled arrival of our little holiday gift. Unfortunately, we don't have a tracking number for this package, but even if she doesn't make it before the end of Chanukah (Dec. 19th) or even by Christmas Day, this is going to be the best holiday season ever for the Florida branch of the Sznitken family!

Annie seems to remember us paying extra for a rush delivery, ensuring her arrival before the 25th. It would be a little disappointing if she didn't make it on time, especially since we have just short of a dozen holiday outfits to dress her up in!

I'm also pretty excited that my folks have flown down to spend the holiday with us; and equally excited that they left Adam in NY! (You guys could have brought Kim with you though.) For the rest of the family in Connecticut, Texas, New Hampshire, New York, Minnesota and other long distances away, we are thinking of you and looking forward to the opportunity to see you again and to introduce you to the newest member of the clan.

So in the spirit of the day, I want to thank all of our family and friends for their everlasting support, friendship and assistance. I'm sure that I sometimes fail to express how important you all are, but please know that I recognize how charmed a life I get to lead.

Ok, time to get off of the computer and to get back to getting the house ready for our guests. That's right...my VERY pregnant wife is hosting Thanksgiving 2009 at our home. (If Baby Sznitken has half the energy of her mother, its going to be quite the year)

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones.