3 things

3 things I'm doing today
1. Take Cam to his gym class
2. Take Cam on a bike ride
3. Attempt to make homemade graham crackers

3 shows I'm watching on TV
1. My Boys
2. Tori and Dean Inn Hollywood (little embarrassed to admit that!)
3. 30 Days

3 cars I've owned
1. Toyota Highlander
2. Nissan Armada
3. Nissan Altima

3 favorite actors (meaning their skill as actors)
1. Hugh Grant
2. Gene Hackman
3. Al Pacino

3 least favorite chores
1. Keeping my kitchen counter crumb-free
2. Cleaning the kitchen floor
3. Laundry

3 favorite foods right now
1. Frozen yogurt with toppings of MY choice!
2. New York cheese pizza (pizza shop in our town)
3. Any sandwich put in the George Foreman

3 things I wish I had
1. Pool in backyard
2. A trick to make Cam sleep longer than one hour all day
3. Unlimited Starbucks card

the khols theory

Over the past several months I have noticed something about stores such as Mervyn's, Khols, Gottshalks, etc. I have realized that on nearly every single rack of clothing, there sits a "Sale" sign. Next time you go, look around. Kid you not, almost everything in the entire store is on sale...all the time. I'm sure you can tell where I'm going with this. My theory is that they want you to feel like you are getting a deal on whatever you find, therefore upping the chances that you'll purchase it. However in reality, no matter when you go, chances are the item you want will be on sale. So from now on, I'm not going to allow myself to be tempted by their deception. I'm not going to allow myself to assume that I MUST buy the item because it might not be on sale the next time I come. I'll show them. :)

On an unrelated note, several days ago Chris announced that he wanted to make me dinner on Friday. So last night he made some tasty fajitas. I was so impressed that he researched the type of meat he should use as well as bought whole avocados to make homemade guacamole. They were very delicious, but even more great was the thoughtfulness of him to go to all the effort. :)



I wanted to catch this moment on camera. Poor Cam just gets so worn out sometimes. I mean wouldn't you? He gets wheeled around in his bike trailer usually twice a day, goes to the park 1-2 times a day (my favorite time is during the mid-day 100 degree heat!), has his mom read to him whenever he wants, and the list goes on! It is tough being a baby!

fun adventures

Thanks for all the input on vaccinations. I enjoyed reading all of your thoughts!

Yesterday I was in the mood for more than just the typical "park, go on a bike ride, go on a walk, more park, etc." day. I decided to take Cam to one of my favorite places. All throughout high school and college my friends and I would drive out to the Palm Desert Marriott to lay out. We did stay there occasionally, but more often than not we just used their pool (how rebellious, I know). It is a beautiful hotel!! Cam and I made the trek out there and he LOVED the pool! He hasn't been in a pool since last summer so I was anxious to see what he would think. We will definitely do this again as it is such a nice pool and it makes you feel like you are on vacation with everyone else!







After we came home and Cam took a marathon nap of 35 minutes (contain your jealousy, moms), we headed up to Oak Glen and went to the petting zoo. While Cam loved watching the ducks and swans, he mainly liked running around all the rugged terrain.

what do you believe?

One thing my sister and I have in common is that we can have pretty strong opinions about things. Sometimes Chris will have to tell me to tone it down when I'm on a rant. In my defense, I'm pretty choosy about who I share my opinions with because I don't want to offend someone and I would hate to hurt someone's feelings.

One issue that I don't have a strong opinion on is vaccinations. Since everything with Cam surfaced, I started to rethink vaccinations. While he isn't autistic (and there is much controversy linking the two), I still have found myself rethinking them and wanting to find out more about them. I'm reading a book which is anti any vaccine. Seems pretty extreme, but here are a few points that are made:

*Medical studies estimate that vaccines are responsible for 2/3 of all SIDS deaths
*There is no evidence that any disease has been eliminated by vaccines (despite propaganda claiming there has been). Diseases have declined for other reasons, previous to the vaccinations.
*Vaccinations for relatively harmless diseases (such as measles/mumps) prevent a child's immune system from developing enough to where they could later fight more serious diseases

I could go on with these arguments, but the confusing part to me is all the "research" I've also read that makes opposite claims. I've read research that says that vaccinations are necessary for our population to remain free from serious illnesses and have been responsible for the decline of such diseases as polio. If both sides have convincing research and their own set of "statistics", who are we supposed to believe (sigh)?

here goes...

Lately Cam has been SOOO clingy to me and rarely will play by himself. It is only with me. When my mom babysits, he is totally different and very independent. Even with Chris he is much better. Yesterday when I went to pick him up from my mom's, he immediately went into "play with me non-stop" mode when I walked in the door. I'd like for him to have a little more independence when I'm with him so that I can do the laundry, cook, etc. while in the same room. So I'm going to start "special room time". I'm getting this term from my sister, who uses it with her daughter.

I know he is not even two, so his SRT will be very short (just a few minutes to start out with). But I think if he can conquer a few minutes playing by himself, knowing mom is right there, as he gets older I can hopefully increase the time. In order to help this new adventure, I bought him a new toy today that I'll only bring out during SRT. I know he'll love this one as he is glued to similar ones during our library play class. Hopefully this works and if anyone has any better suggestions, feel free to post!

yogurt

Chris and I are IN LOVE with the new frozen yogurt places where you get to fill your own cup and put on your own toppings. Susan also fell in love with them when they were out here. We took Wayne, Chris's dad, for the first time yesterday and he also became a fan. I now prefer those places over even Cold Stone, and it is healthier (except for the mounds and mounds of toppings I end up putting on it!!). What is your favorite ice cream brand and/or place to get ice cream? Flavor?

wow

Jessica sent this to me a while back. It is amazing and very touching. Try and watch the whole thing...it's worth it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ

p.s. Do you think the husband of the last couple was surprised?

worth the gas

We spent this past weekend up at Chris's parents (near Fresno). Yes, it was an expensive trip gas wise, but quite worth it as we all had a great time. Here are some highlights:

*Cam ADORES his grandparents' house, or I should say the outside of it. He spent the majority of the time roaming around their yard, playing with the dogs, and going for wagon rides. It hovered around 100 degrees most of the day, but that didn't seem to phase him (it sure phased us, however!!).

Not quite tall enough to reach the wheels...


Early morning show of "The Sprinklers"...


*Friday Chris and I took off for an overnight without Cam. What did we do? Not a whole lot, which was the point. We rented a movie in our hotel room, went to a movie in the theater, shopped probably too much, and ate out. Perfect. Friday night we went out to dinner with some great friends, Matt and Jana. Every time we are with them, we comment on how we wished we lived closer to one another.

*It was such fun to see Cam with his grandparents. I wish he could see them more often, but there is nothing better than seeing your family dote on your little one!

*Our ride back home with Cam couldn't have gone more perfect. I think this was highlighted by the fact that our ride up could have gone a lot more perfect!!! Let's just say Cam was not in the road trip mood on our way up. Here is a pic of a nice distraction we found that took quite a chunk of time on the ride...a sucker, or in Cam's language, "suta".

happy early father's day

Tomorrow we are headed up to my in laws for the weekend. Since I won't be around my computer on Father's Day, I wanted to write my post a little early. I have two great fathers in my life, one who is my own father, and one who is the father of Cameron. I'll start with my dad.

Here are a few amazing qualities that have made my dad the most amazing dad in the world (according to me of course):

*Never in my 29 years on this earth have I heard him complain about ANYTHING. This includes times in high school when I dinged the car or when we had some hard financial times when I was a kid. Through small annoyances throughout the day, to major life events, my dad is one of the most positive, optimistic people I know.
*When he knew I was going a tough time with all my emotions regarding Cam, he would come out and go on my morning walks with me with Cameron, just so I would have some company
*He has NO attachment whatsover to material things. He is truly an example of someone who is "storing up treasures in heaven". Status means nothing to him. Living his life solely for Christ does.
*He is SOO funny! Much of his humor is what I call "daughter" humor, meaning Susan and I are probably his best audience...but I don't care. I think he is hilarious and love spending time with him.
*Lastly, I have never met someone with such a heart for people who don't know Christ, especially over seas. While he isn't technically retired, he doesn't have to work too much, so he has a lot of free time. While he could play tennis everyday, go on long vacations, etc., he chooses to devote his time to going on missions trips to deliver eye glasses and wheel chairs, help others raise money to go on trips, etc. I admire his passion for wanting to see everyone in heaven....everyone.
I love you dad!!

Here he is on a recent trip to Ethiopia (sorry it's so small)



The second father in my life is Chris. Chris never ceases to amaze me in the type of dad he is. Not that I ever doubted he would be a great dad, but I am in awe of how much he loves Cameron. I see it by the fact that he can't stay in his office for more than a couple of hours without coming out to play with him, or how he loves to hear every single detail of the times he isn't with him (down to his reactions to some ducks we saw), or how he adores to "wrestle" with him on our bed, or how he likes to sometimes go with me when I get Cam up from a nap...and the list could go on. So thank you, Chris, for being Cam's dad, the best dad he could ever want!

veggies and mama

My mom has been one of my best advocates through all of my insomnia...meaning she is always finding articles, doing internet research, etc. to help me find a solution. One of the things she suggested was to eat healthier. I've never been an unhealthy eater, but I'm not terribly healthy. I don't eat tons of fried foods, yet I don't typically have veggies everyday. One of her suggestions was to cut up a bunch of raw veggies (with a little low fat ranch) and snack on them throughout the day. My snacking previously consisted mainly of pretzels, which don't do anything for you. I took her advice and have realized what a great idea it was! So many times I'm not hungry, just munchy. I've gone through a big bag of these in two days!!



Lately Cameron has taken to saying "mama" over and over in the car until I answer him, to which he always then asks for a cracker (usually I know he isn't even hungry). Today as he kept repeating it, I found myself relishing each time. It wasn't too long ago that I would have killed to hear him say my name. Now that he is, I don't ever want to get annoyed...I just want to thank God for that cute little voice!

"grosses me out"

Yesterday I was explaining to Chris that Wendy's burgers have always grossed me out because they are square. He told me I should start writing down the things that "gross me out" because he thinks they're quite silly. I wish I could think of them all because I have a feeling he is right. Here are a couple that I remembered:

*When we were kids, it grossed me out when Susan would lift one of her legs to the side to crack her hip. Yuck! I told her I was going to charge her 25 cents each time she did, but of course she never paid up!

*It grosses me out for people to clench and unclench their fists (like the docs ask you to do before they try and draw blood)...same with flexing and unflexing your feet

Are there weird things that gross you out?

first fair

Big things are happening in our little town! The Cherry Festival began today and we ventured down to see what all the fuss was about. Basically it is a small fair with rinky dink rides, booths, live music, and fried food. It was actually lots of fun, mainly because Cam seemed to really enjoy it. His favorite was the Carousel. We took him twice and both times he said "more" as it slowed to a stop. We were hoping to take him on the ferris wheel, but he wasn't tall enough. Maybe next year!

Hmm...what am I about to embark on??


You're right Cam, not quite sure we needed the seatbelt on this...


Nothing like some good friend food...or in Cam's case, a peanut butter sandwich...

the trans fat debate

We've all heard about trans fats and how horrific they are for your body. One thing I had been confused about was what exactly they were in. We were told that if the ingredients of a food included "partially hydrogenated" oil, then the food contained trans fats. However I have several items in my pantry that list this in the ingredients, but then also say "0" under the "trans fats" column. So which is it? A friend of mine who is a nutritionist told me that legally, the product can tell us it is trans fat free as long as there is a low enough amount in the serving size. So basically the foods DO have trans fats, just a small enough amount to where they can claim they don't. I asked her if, since it is such a small amount, we needed to even worry about it. Her answer? ANY trans fat is bad, no matter the amount. Darn it.

So what is your take on this? Do you allow your kids foods with small amounts? If Cameron had to give up his absolute favorite cracker (as seen below), I would have an unhappy camper!! But graham crackers have a tiny bit of trans fats. Is it obsessing too much to cut all of these out of our diets???

Wicked

Friday I had a girls night out...first one in a long time. It was a lot of fun and by the end of it we were all discussing what we wanted to do next. We left in the late afternoon and drove out to The Grove in L.A., where we ate dinner and shopped around. We then went to see Wicked at the Pantages. Generally I'm not a "play" type person, but this was much better than I had expected and we had great seats, which made it all the more enjoyable. The girls I went with are from my church, and I feel so lucky to have created friendships with them because they are all so fun to hang out with.



Yesterday Chris, Cam and I headed out to Palm Springs. This has become a weekend favorite for us as we just love the city. After lunch, we went to the Living Desert, which is basically a zoo in the middle of the desert. On a scale of 1-10, I'd give our visit a 4 as far as the interesting animals we saw. Granted, it was hot and many of them were being lazy (which is understandable), but Cam isn't too interested in a sleeping rhino...he needs to see more action! We still had nice time and there were a few exhibits Cam enjoyed.