viva las vegas

The day after Christmas Chris and I took our first trip away from Cameron since he was born. Chris's parents offered to stay a little longer in order to stay with him while we were gone. Thursday morning we headed out to Las Vegas with our friends, Jen and Eric. We had such a fun time! Despite it being absolutely frigid, we were able walk around a few hotels, including Caesar's, where we ate at the Cheesecake Factory the first night (are you really surprised??).

On Thursday, Eric and Chris dropped us off at a mall and they went to a couple of casinos where they found some cheap blackjack. Jen and I got some great shopping done. It was one of those trips where you felt very accomplished by the end. :)

A few highlights:
*Relaxing in Jen and Eric's room while the guys watched a football game
*Eating out every meal and taking our time while eating
*Finding some good bargains while shopping
*Having fun playing blackjack with our husbands coaching us
*Not having to worry AT ALL about Cameron because he was in such good hands!

christmas

Sorry this post is a tad late. We just back from a few days in Vegas which I'll post about later. We had a wonderful time with my family as well as Chris's family. His grandparents came all the way down from central California, which was very special. We also had his aunt, brother's family, his parents, and my parents over. I think one of the best parts of the time was that Cameron did very well, at least much better than we had anticipated. We had thought we would need to be upstairs most of the time while the family was downstairs, simply because of past performances of him in which he has gotten very overwhelmed by all the people. But he did surprisingly well and we were able to enjoy time all together.

It was a lot of fun to have my parents take part in the time. Since my sister lives in Germany (however she is coming for a visit in less than a week....ahhhh!!!!!!), it was great to have them come and share Chris's side of the festivities.

My favorite gift: Gift card to a spa
Chris's favorite gift: Gift card to Apple

familiar

Last night we had our good friends out for dinner. We made two scrumptious pizzas, bbq chicken and pesto chicken with sundried tomato (my favorite!). As we were sitting at the table, I kept thinking how nice it was to be with them. We rarely are all together anymore as they live out in OC. But when we do get together, it is like we never moved away. I get along GREAT with both girls and Chris gets along equally well with the guys. We really do "click", to use a girl term. :) There is something so nice about familiarity, isn't there?

Here the guys are playing "corn hole", which is a bean (corn) bag toss/horse shoe type game. Sorry the picture is so dark. Chris discovered the game when he attended a wedding out in North Carolina. He fell in love with it and added it to his Christmas list upon his return.



Ana and Jeremy (on the right) are expecting their first baby girl, Mia, in Feburary. We are all very excited!




Wendy (right) and Noah made the most delicious apply crisp for dessert. I could have eaten the crumblies off the whole thing!

Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Clause

One of my favorite parts about the Christmas season is the flood of Christmas movies that appear on TV. They are incredibly cheesy and sooo unrealistic, but I love every minute of them. Chris loves to make fun of them as well as me for watching them. His favorite thing to do is watch the first 5 minutes, then tell me exactly how the plot will play out (as they are quite predictable). Usually you can bank on a single, overworked woman who suddenly realizes she is tired of putting work before her life. She then stumbles onto Mr. Right, who is typically a lawyer who is also wanting to settle down. Throw in the best girlfriend who, despite being somewhat of a man eater, gives her good advice to, "go with your heart.", and you have the classic made for TV Christmas movie!

Here are a few favorites:
His and Hers Christmas
Christmas in Handcuffs
A Boyfriend for Christmas

p.s. Here is an adorable picture of a very curious little boy...

finished

Chris finished revamping his website yesterday. He has been working on it for several months! Take a look!

www.thrivestudios.com

who knew?

Today we went to Lake Perris. We had always driven by the signs for it, so we decided to see it for ourselves. Who knew a lake/camp ground was only 20 minutes away? We were the only ones there as it was pretty cold, but it was beautiful and made for some great pictures. I hear it can get pretty crowded/dirty in the summer and it costs $8 per car to get in (yikes!), so I'm not sure how often we'll frequent it, but it was still a fun outing and Cameron seemed to love walking on the sand and inching as close to the water as possible.

happenings as of late

*Cam is walking more and more. We love to just sit on our bed and watch him walk all around the place. Sooo cute!

*Cam's been showing his will a little more lately, throwing mini fits when he is fed something he doesn't like or when I go to change his diaper and he is not in the mood. I've read that by trying to calmly talk him through the fits is sometimes exactly what he wants, attention. So sometimes I simply ignore his drama and it seems to work well (for the most part).

*I've had two perfect nights of sleep (the first in over a month). Unfortunately it was due to food poisoning which made my stomach hurt so much I just conked out right away. As crazy as this may sound, it was worth it to get a good night's sleep. :(

*Today I'm meeting with some women about starting a playgroup in our church. I was involved in one at another church a while back. We have sooo many young families in our church. I know this is probably a great need for those moms that stay at home.

*My friend Karen came over for the day yesterday with her two kids. We had a great time and Cam did wonderful. I was a tad worried he might feel overwhelmed with the new people. We even got about an hour to sit and talk while the kids napped. Karen is SUPERB at asking questions, which as many of you know, is a huge quality I look for in friendships.

*I have loved that our direct tv has XM radio on some channels. They have the best Christmas station that is on most of the day in our home!

new snack

I've always loved pretzels. Back in college, my friends and I would buy the HUGE Costco bag of pretzels and leave it open in our room, snacking on it until it was empty. We would also snag some white chocolate chips from the cafeteria and bring them back to our dorm. We would then melt them, dip in the pretzels, and pop them in the fridge. Scrumptious!

These are pretzels (Rold Gold)I found that are delightful. They are cinnamon...not cinnamon and sugar, just cinnamon. The flavor is fabulous and I am constantly sneaking into the pantry for another handful. Please don't let Cam's baseball shirt fool you. I am in no way suggesting you to try and pass these on as a game time snack for your significant other. If I tried to feed pretzels to Chris for a "baseball snack", he would throw a pillow at me. They are very much a light, girl snack!

where are the real men?

Dr. Laura often asks this question. Usually, she is referring to the men who don't defend their wives from others mistreating them, who are content to sit around the house and not find work to help support their families, who don't discipline and leave it completely to their wives (and the list goes on)... Yesterday I was reminded of the fact that I'm so thankful I married a "real man". After looking out our back window and seeing a man trying to get his stuck car out of the mud, Chris got dressed and headed out into the drizzly weather to try and help. An hour later (and with the help of our neighbor's truck), they finally got it. How easy could it have been to pretend he didn't see the man struggling?



On a couple unrelated notes, many make fun of us (in good fun) for living out in the "909". For all those witty remarks, I offer this picture taken from our bedroom window. Beautiful, huh?



And lastly, yesterday was Lauren's (our niece) 1st birthday. Luckily the weather permitted the party to be held at a park and it was a lot of fun! In true Kelly fashion, I forgot my camera. Hopefully I'll get a hold of some pictures sometime and post them. Happy birthday Lauren!!!

cleaning

When it comes to housecleaning, there are certain things I let go, and certain things I don't. Generally, I'm pretty picky about clutter. We do have one counter in the kitchen that contains a few piles (and one "junk" drawer that contains who knows what!), but other than that, I don't like piles of junk mail, magazines, etc. around the house. I like for my kitchen counters to be clutter free as well as the coffee table. Some things I let go. For instance, I'll admit, we never make our bed unless company is coming over. Once Cam is older and we need to set an example, I'll start. But for now, what is the point if it doesn't bug us??? My closet is another area that I'm not too good about. More often than not, it is quite the disaster.

There are two areas that I'm very picky about. I HATE it when my stove top is dirty, mainly because it is black and shows everything (which has proven to be quite a pain). I also hate for that area around the washing machine lid to be dirty (where you put in the bleach). These two areas are somewhat odd, I realize, but they drive me nuts when I catch them dirty!! What odd areas are you particular about?

new hair

Many debate which is easier, short hair or long hair. I would venture to say if you are rating purely on the "easy" scale, long hair would win. How much easier could it be to throw your hair up in a ponytail, day after day...after day...after day...? Yes, this is what I had resorted to. It wasn't that I was too lazy to do it (well, I guess that was part of it), it was mainly that my hair got annoying always being in the way when dealing with Cam. But I have to admit the ponytail really started getting to me. So I made the decision to cut my hair. Yes, it is more work to make presentable (although only about 5-10 more minutes)...but it forces me to do it because I can't put it back.

I went to my friend, Liz, who did an EXCELLENT job! I would give it a 10!! I love the color she did and the cut is exactly what I wanted. It was also fun to have her do it because it meant that we got to catch up. I think we talked non-stop for the whole two hours! It was a lot of fun. Thanks, Liz!!

baseball in our future?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_oal5Gl_MA

sleep

This isn't a happy post, so be forwarned. As many of you know, I value sleep like nothing else. More than most, I need sleep, and I need a lot of it. My bedtime is typically 9pm. Within the past couple of months, I've been battleing insomnia on and off. It comes in spurts. For instance, in the past week, it has typically taken me 2-5 hours to fall asleep. Last night, I got one hour of sleep...total (4-5am). It has been extremely discouraging and depressing for me. I'm not stressed or anxious about anything. I'm not worried about something in particular when I go to bed (except a little anxious that I'll actually fall asleep).

I'm not simply writing this to complain. I honestly would like some input from others who have struggled with this or know of others who have. A friend suggested I see an Endocronologist to get my hormone levels tested. She said 50% of thyroid problems are diagnosed after women stop breastfeeding (which would coincide with what I am dealing with).

Anyway, sorry to be a downer, but if any of you have any advice, please send it my way. Thanks.

the duck pond

"...feed the birds, toppins a bag...toppins, toppins, toppins a bag..."
-Mary Poppins (scene where the bird lady is feeding birds outside a church...not my favorite scene of the movie, but an appropriate line for my blog!)

that one ornament

Tonight we put up our Christmas tree. For some, this might seem a tad early. I think Thanksgiving weekend is the best possible time. That way you can enjoy your tree for a full month.



One of my favorite parts of Christmas decorating is putting up our ornaments. There are two ways of decorating. Some coordinate their trees and have "themes", including matching bows, similar ornaments, etc. The other way, which just happens to be our way growing up, is to take every single ornament, from the one you made in kindergarten, to the ugly one you got in some random gift exchange, and cram them all on the tree. There is nothing wrong with option one, but I much prefer option two because there are soooo many memories attached to each ornament. I love unpacking each one and recalling where I got it. Tonight, Chris wasn't too into this, so I proceeded to decorate while he watched TV, asking him to pause every once and a while to explain the history of a specific ornament to him.

Below is my and my sister's all time favorite ornament. Why? I have no clue. It is not that pretty, is yellowed with age, and has most of the glitter rubbed off. But we absolutely love it. I'm not quite sure how I got lucky enough to get it, but I'm not complaining! Happy decorating everyone!

on his way!

As I write, Chris is on his way home from a weekend in North Carolina. He was in a friend's wedding and had a great time. Cam and I did great, however we sure did miss him. Luckily, Chris had no delays, despite traveling home on the busiest day of the year. Unfortunately, the day Chris left, Cam decided to take his first steps!! I was sooo excited, but super bummed that Chris missed it. He has been quite picky about when he chooses to walk, but I'm sure it is only a matter of time until he is all over the place!

I realized upon downloading my pictures that my grand intentions of taking a bunch over Thanksgiving amounted to not a whole lot. I feel like that happens a lot with me. I can't tell you how many times I've taken the camera somewhere and ended up leaving with taking either no pictures or only a few. Anyway, here are a couple cute ones.



Cameron and his two cousins, Hannah and Lauren

outdoors

I'll blog about our Thanksgiving once I get the pictures downloaded. I just read a very interesting article that my mom gave me. It talked about the importance of having our kids play outdoors in nature. The emphasis was on nature, not just playing outside on the street with your bike (while that is obviously very beneficial for other reasons). Kids' minds grow and stretch so much when they are forced to use their imagination to create games, build forts, etc. We live pretty close to some great mountain communities. This article made me more motivated to be proactive about getting Cam up in nature...especially as he gets older. Here is an excerpt. The first part is a question asked by the article's author to the "expert".

"...the obesity epidemic coincides with a record high increase in organized sports for kids. how does tat correlate with the need for more outdoor play?"

"...in organized sports, kids often have little actual playtime. But watch a group of children in a wooded area, and you'll see them running, climbing over things, and then dashing over to whatever captures their attention next...last summer, my sons built a fort out of storage pallets and hay at our ranch. That project took them all weekend. They were like beavers, constantly moving back and forth between our barn and the woods. Sports are more about following directions to the letter. They're great for discipline...but they don't leave from for the imagination."

thanksgiving

We are headed up to Fresno for a few days to visit Chris's family. We are leaving soon after the Thanksgiving meal on Thursday to head home because Chris leaves for N. Carolina on Friday for a friend's wedding. The next few days will be filled with non-stop fabulous, scrumptious food. To be honest, I'm not much of a Thanksgiving meal fan except for the stuffing and homeade rolls. Honestly, I don't even put any turkey on my plate. I'd much rather fill up on other things. I mean, what is that special about turkey? Frankly, I think it has little taste and can be eaten year round by ordering a turkey sandwich at Subway!

Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and I'm sure I'll have a lot of pictures to post upon my return.

tipping

Pre-Cam, I used to be very anti take out from a restaurant. Getting food to go from a fast food place was fine. But if I was going to spend $10 on my meal, I wanted the package to include sitting down at the restaurant, enjoying the atmosphere and company. Well, along with MANY other opinions/views that have changed since giving birth, this did too. Because we don't go out to eat much, it is a super treat when we get take out from a restaurant. Typically the only place we do this is Claim Jumpers (and really we only get this a couple times a month) because they have the most incredible chicken salad sandwich. Actually at this very moment I'm chomping at the bit waiting for Chris to finish putting Cam down so we can eat!!

So onto my topic. I used to think that tipping on to-go food was lame. I mean, our waiter didn't have to "wait" on us, right? However after talking to a friend, who was a former waitress, I changed my mind. She said that preparing a to-go order is much more work than waiting on you at a table. It makes sense when you think about it. They have to box up each individual side, include napkins, silverware, etc. When you are at the restaurant, they just bring it out on the plate! So we have started tipping, which is kind of a bummer, because then I'm really paying exactly what I would if we ate there, with none of the perks!

This got me thinking about tipping. Do you tip at Starbucks? If you do, what if you pay with a gift card? Sometimes I do think tipping has gotten a little out of hand. What makes someone at Starbucks more deserving than someone putting together my hamburger at Carl's Jr.?? Thoughts?

groundbreaking news!!!

Today as we were headed to the doc, a woman made a comment about how hard it must be to carry such a big baby. She was a very sweet lady and we kidded about how large he is for his age. We then got on the subject of walking and how he has yet to take his first steps. Honestly, I'm ok that he is going to be a late walker. They say that you shouldn't worry until they get to 18 months, so we have 3 1/2 to go! Anyway, this nice lady decided to give me some sage advice about how to speed along the process. You see, according to her, I simply need to, "wash him in dirty dish water". Yes, you read correctly. She actually suggested bathing him in some spaghetti, casserole (or fill in the blank with whatever you like) water. Now, why on earth didn't I think of that? It makes complete sense, right??? :)

realistic expectations

Last weekend while I was in Palm Springs, Chris took Cam up to Oak Glen. He said Cam loved it and spent most of the time walking around a little bench in the meadow right outside one of the restaurants. So we decided to pack a picnic and head up there today. It didn't turn out quite like we thought. He lasted about half and hour before we packed up to come home. For some reason, he just wasn't into it and was pretty fussy.

To be honest, we were both frustrated. We had been looking forward to this and were excited to go as a family. As we talked about it on the way home, we both agreed that many times we set our expectations too high when it comes to doing things with Cam. We forget the fact that he is a baby. Babies are unpredictable and won't always enjoy things we think they will. Don't get me wrong, we do a lot of fun things with him that he thoroughly enjoys. But to be honest, there are many times also that we have had to cut something short, or not do it at all simply because he is in an off mood, didn't nap well, etc.

If we had simply viewed today as a nice chance to get outside and introduce Cam to something new, rather than think we would stay there for a long time and Cam would love every minute of it, we would have had a much better time and attitude. It was a good lesson to learn. We still were able to get some good pictures.

swiss family robinson

I just left the video store in search of the movie, "The Waitress". I'm a Keri Russell fan (from the good ol' Felicity days). Unfortunately they didn't have it. I looked around, but could not find something that I could justify spending $4 on. I know, I'm cheap. But I HATE the feeling of flipping on a movie, not liking it, and knowing I wasted $4. We rarely rent movies anymore...thanks to our trustee Tivo. Anyway, I got to thinking about those movies that, when you see them, remind you of your childhood. Here are a few of mine:

*Swiss Family Robinson-my favorite part was the end where they had a family race riding animals.
*The Nombmobile (sp?)-I barely remember this one. I just remember lots of pixies, which I thought were ultra cool!
*Sound of Music-Chris hasn't seen this, which I think is a crime. Even more of a crime is that he has no desire to see it.
*Flight of the Navigator-I thought Sara Jessica Parker was SO cool in this, despite her small role.
*Pollyana
*Summer Magic-few have heard of this movie. It is a GREAT Haley Mills classic.

schedule

I'm copying my sister's idea and posting my schedule. I found hers to be an interesting read. This is a typical day, however the past few days have been a little out of the ordinary as we are having some adjustment issues with daylight savings (for instance, Cam's 4:00 wake time this morning!).

6:00- Wake up. Yes, this is early, I realize. However this is the schedule I have chosen as I enjoy my evenings. I'm more than willing to wake up early in order to have my evenings free.
6:15- Go for walk
7:00-9:00- Breakfast, play time: read books, play with toys, let him chase balls ALL over the kitchen floor :)
9:00-10:00- nap- although sometimes this is only 30 minutes :( After having my daily cup of hot chocolate, I have my quiet time, email, and watch a little TV.
10:00-1:00- Typically we'll go to the park and swing and have more play time, then eat lunch. A couple days a week Chris will go with us and we'll go to lunch somewhere like fast food or Costco.
1:00-1:30- Nap
1:30-5:30- This time typically consists of another walk, running errands and more play time.
5:30- Dinner for Cam and play time until bed
6:30- Bath and bottle (Chris does this Mon, Wed, and Fri.)
7:00- Bed for Cam and free time for us, including a relaxing dinner. :)
9 or 9:30- bed time for me. Chris typically goes to bed with me, however will watch TV until he is ready as he would never fall asleep so early!

Notes: Once a week we to go Gymboree, which Cam loves! Every other week we'll go to MOPS on Friday. Right now, the park consists only of swinging and going down the slide. Once he can walk, we'll be able to do more things. I have a play area downstairs in the living room and upstairs in the loft. This way, we vary the toys. He spends A LOT of time in the kitchen chasing balls that he throws. This is a favorite pastime!

That is a typical day. Yes, it isn't that exciting in print, but I honestly enjoy my days with Cam, as well as my free evenings. Here are a couple pictures at the park.

Palm Springs

Jen and I went to Palm Springs for the weekend. Saturday we drove to the Marriott (we didn't stay here, but this is our all time favorite hotel) and relaxed by the pool for a while. Later we went shopping and out to dinner at Cheesecake Factory (Orange Chicken...AMAZING!). After dinner we headed back to the hotel, watched some TV, and fell asleep...at about 9:00. Yes, 9:00. Of course I was all for an early bedtime! Fortunately since Jen is pregnant, she was more than willing oblige.



Sunday morning we walked to the Coffee Bean for breakfast. Here we are sitting next to the beloved Lucille Ball.



We then relaxed for a while in our room (and painted our toes)and headed home, making a most productive stop at Cabizon on the way. It was a wonderful weekend and so incredibly relaxing for me. Here are a few things I enjoyed that I rarely get to do, now that Cam is in the picture (however I sure did miss him!):

*Reading magazines while sitting in the pool
*Eating my meals at my own pace
*Taking my time while shopping and actually getting to try things on
*Waking up in the morning and staying in bed for as long as I wanted
*Enjoying sitting at a coffee shop for an extended period of time

Ultimately, I'm so thankful to have had a friend, like Jen, to spend this time with. I feel so lucky that we have remained close for the past 15 years. Despite going through different phases of our lives at different times, our friendship has never wavered and I feel so lucky to have her in my life.

p.s. Thanks also to my great husband for taking Cam-duty for the weekend. They had a good time with one another and it was so nice to not have to worry one bit about my little boy.

question

Would you rather be given $5000, or given the opportunity to have dinner with anyone you would like, BUT not be able to tell anyone about your meeting??

Thinking this through, let's say you would want to meet George Bush. Imagine having a great conversation with him, getting lots of answers to your questions etc., but then having to keep that amazing experience completely to yourself. For me, half the fun of doing something cool is the sharing of it with others! It would be torture to not tell your family/friends all about it. Maybe torture enough to rather just have the $5000!!

Happy Halloween!

Last night was Cam's second Halloween. Last year we didn't do a whole lot...and this year wasn't too different. We did take him to my parent's church. I think he enjoyed seeing all the people milling about. We stayed a short while, then came home. I mainly wanted to go to show him off to my parents. He looked too adorable to just stay in doors. :)

little tidbits about me

When I'm nervous: I have to go to the bathroom….IMMEDIATELY

The last song I listened to was: “Stretchin the Truth…is Tellin a Lie”, from Cam’s CD

If I were to get married right now, my maid of honor would be: my sister/best friend

I have a hard time understanding: How someone could neglect their child. My heart literally aches when I see a news story about this.

If I won an award, the first person I would tell would be: Chris

Most recent thing I've bought myself: A pretty red berry Xmas wreath. I’ve seen it a lot at Target, but didn’t want to spend the money. I saw it yesterday for 50% off. Woohoo!!

Most recent thing someone else bought me: Chris always buys me frappuccinos. Whenever we go on a longer car ride, he asks, "Should we stop by Starbucks??"

My favorite hair style is: naturally curly…I wish I had this!

In the morning I: almost always make a cup of hot chocolate during Cam’s first nap…I honestly look forward to this little “break” immensely!!! It’s my “me” time.

Last night I watched: Nothing…we went out to eat with our friends which was SOOO fun!

Tomorrow I will: take Cam to a Pediatric Doctor of Infectious Diseases, due to him having a 3rd staph infection. I won’t go into this, but this is a huge concern/issue going on with our family right now. I need to get to the bottom of it.

Tonight I am: excited b/c we are about to watch the last two episodes of the best show I’ve seen in a long time called, “Damages”

I'm missing: Susan, Jessica, Kara

My heart is: too fragile when it comes to Chris and Cam

picky, picky!

We have a picky eater on our hands. Yes, I know babies are picky when it comes to food. Yes, I know it comes in phases. But this phase has been going on for over two months. I've tried soooo many foods (repeatedly) and here are the ONLY ones he eats:

*any fruit
*bread
*peanut butter
*crackers
*yogurt
*oatmeal

Yes, that is it. Pretty hard to vary his diet within those parameters! Anyway, here is a video of what Cam does when I place some food in front of him that he is opposed to. (copy/paste)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K56Nd7zhxQY

interesting few days

The past few days have been, well, interesting. On Sunday Chris was admitted to the hospital. He had developed a staph infection in his arm that was not healing even with the antibiotics he was on. Due to the recent scare (you might have seen it in the news) about a specific thread of staph, they wanted to make sure they got rid of it. So he spent the past couple days in the hosptial, hooked up to an IV (to receive antibiotics). My mom stayed with us the whole time and watched Cam while I went back and forth to the hospital. I simply cannot tell you how grateful we are to here. What an angel! Here he is with his nice little arm band/gaze.



The past few days have also brought us wind like I have NEVER seen before. The dust has been unbelievable. The worst part is our house. Our windows are not 100% sealed, therefore our whole house is literally covered in a film of dust. My sweet dad taped a few of our windows, but even that didn't keep it all out. Chris and I are somewhat neat freaks, so this is driving us crazy. I can't wait until the wind dies down and I can start to clean! Here is a picture of our window sill. Half has been vacuumed. Won't this be fun to clean up...ON EVERY WINDOW!!!




Another interesting, or rather yucky thing happened admist all this chaos. I backed into a woman in the Albertson's parking lot. Ughhh...not really what I needed. She was, shall we say, not happy AT ALL with me. I thought since I had a cute little baby with me, she might be a little nicer. Hmmm...not so much. Anyway, the important thing is that we weren't hurt and the "collison" was very small.

So that is the past few days...here is to hopefully some better ones!

p.s. Previous to all this, we did have a fun time at the Pumpkin Patch...

happy belated birthday

Chris's birthday was this past Monday. Last night my parents came over to celebrate with some homeade pizza and brownie sundaes. I was ecstatic that he liked the gift I bought him, a clock for his office. He is very difficult to shop for. While I've always appreciated that he has a great sense of style, it does make it more difficult for me to buy him clothes because his tastes are more particular. So I decided to buy something I thought he needed, but hadn't asked for...and I lucked out!



So here is to year 28 for him! Here are a few things I'm thankful for:
*His sense of humor
*His willingess to take Cam on walks or on an errand in the afternoon when he senses I need a little break
*His love for Cameron and his excitment about playing with him
*His understanding of my early bedtimes
*His natural tidiness around the house

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE MOST AMAZING HUSBAND!!!

9 Petinaks

This past weekend we went up to Chris's parent's house. Chris's brother and his family were also there. It isn't often that all of us get together, let alone stay in the same house! We had a great time!! I think it was good for Cameron to be around everyone, especially his cute little cousins. He was in a much better mood for most of the weekend (Thank you God!!).

Saturday we went to The Reedley Fiesta for a while before Chris's grandparents, Mo, and Annie came over for dinner. We had a delicious meal of steak, baked potato casserole, bread, and the list goes on!

Sunday we took Cam to the pumpkin patch. He enjoyed the train ride and seeing all the bright orange pumpkins. We visited our friend, Matt and Jana, then went out to dinner (after we put Cam down), just the two of us. It was such a fun weekend. We are very lucky in that Cam is a GREAT car passenger. I don't think he cried once, which was wonderful! Here are som pictures.











As you glance at the picture below, your first thought is probably, "Oh how cute! He has a lipstick kiss!". If only. This morning at Gymboree, one of the other little boys was hugging and kissing Cam. It was so adorable and the other mom was snapping away with her camera...until her son decided Cam was just too sweet not to eat (can you blame him?). Yes, he attempted to take a nice chunk out of Cam's cheek. It took about 15 minutes for the poor thing to calm down. The other mom felt horrible, but really, what can you do? Babies will be babies. :(

sweet

This morning started out like the past few mornings. Cam was pretty difficult. However after breakfast (he has resorted to ONLY eating bananas), I discovered something that worked like magic...music. We actually discovered music calms him in the car this past summer on our way home from vacation. But this morning, he was quite content playing on the floor as long as his Bible Action Songs were playing. I hope this lasts!!

On to my title. Lately he has taken to wanting to cuddle. This is not the norm as he is usually very squirmy and wanting to be on the go. I LOVE this and take advantage of it often. Before his nap, I rocked him with his little head on my shoulder. As I sang songs and prayed for him, he fell asleep. Oh...it was pure bliss. It sure made our past few days seem fade into memory. I sure do love him.

reunion

This past weekend was my 10 year reunion. I was hesitant to go (my excitment was at a "6"), but ended up having a great time. Chris and I sat at a table with basically my best friends from high school, which made it tons of fun. Chris was a great sport, especially having to listen to dumb (I mean really dumb!) stories of things we did back then. About half of our class showed up, which I think is pretty good. It was also fun for Chris and I to get out and feel like real adults for an evening, meaning getting dressed up and not getting home until 10:30...yes you heard me...10:30! Sorry the pics are so small.



Also, I was not permitted to mention this until now...but CONGRATULATIONS to my best friend, Jen. She is 9 weeks pregnant!!!!!!!!!!! I'm beyond excited!!



This weekend we are hoping to go up to Chris's parent's house for a visit. His brother's family will also be there. I say "hoping" because Cam seems to have different plans for us at this point. For some reason, he has been EXTREMELY fussy the past few days. We thought it might be a reaction to some shots he recently got, then we thought it might be teething. Now we thinking he might be getting sick. Whatever the reason is, my job as mommy has not been the most delightful as of late. I was tempted to see about trading him in for a different model. Can you do that? On a side note, he has been standing for a few seconds at a time which makes my day!!! I clap and clap whenever I see it. SOOOOO cute!