no more baby

This weekend we celebrated Cam's birthday. Chris's parents came down Friday and on Saturday morning we took them up to Oak Glen. We had a wonderful breakfast outside while Cam kept himself busy running up and down the ramps and around the deck. Afterward we wandered around the vendor's booths and rode the train. The weather was perfect and Cam was again in heaven with being outdoors and able to explore all of the uneven terrain.




That afternoon we had his party. We decided to make it a family party this year because last year was incredibly stressful for both us and Cam. He was sooo overwhelmed with everyone and we spent the majority of the time upstairs rotating calming him down. This year was definitely better, however he still had somewhat of a hard time. I think the main difference was that we knew how to read him and swooped him upstairs as soon as he started to get upset (rather than last year when we just tried to keep him around everyone).




Anyway, Chris bbq'd some great burgers and afterward I gave Cam his cake. Knowing he wouldn't even touch it (not a fan of the icing on his hands), I tried to decorate it with his two favorites, raisins and bananas. Still not much luck in him touching it, but it still looked cute. :)



Overall it went well and Cam did relatively well with everyone here. I'm so excited for my little 2 year old and what is even better is that the newness of having our own child has not worn off. I still wake up each day excited to see him, find myself missing him when I'm away only a few hours, and just love every day with him!!

having a bad day???

Watch this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwCbZ3Ugg18

not of general interest

I was emailing a friend about this a few days back and thought it blog-worthy. When I was young, my family did something that we adopted from the book, "Cheaper by the Dozen". In the book, when one of the family members talked and talked about the same thing (annoying those around), another member would raise their hand and say, "Not of general interest". At that point, the rest of the family would vote and if indeed the majority deemed it as such, the initial person had to immediately stop talking about it.

Now, before you think, "That is so rude!", keep in mind that we really only did it to one another in a kidding manner, however it was followed through with! Think about it though, wouldn't it be grand if you could actually do this in everyday conversation with people? How many times have people gone on and on and you just wanted the conversation to end already??!! :)

p.s. Please don't think I'm endorsing the movie version of "Cheaper by the Dozen". It is so much worse than the book as it is full of snippy little snotty kids. The kids in the book were super respectful and the parents weren't portrayed as bafoons.

the weekend

Saturday morning Chris had a meeting with someone for work that lasted most of the morning. After I took Cam to his gym class and brought him home for a nap, we packed up the car so we could head out to the beach as soon as he woke up. He loved the ocean when we were on vacation in Morro Bay so we were excited to take him again. Sure enough he planted himself in the sand and let the waves come and go, saying "more, more!" as they would leave.





After the beach, we headed over to Fashion Island to walk around and let Cam ride the carousel before coming home.

Today after church, we drove to Victoria Gardens. We have always driven by the big Bass fish shop, but never ventured inside because, well, we aren't fishermen. But after hearing from several people how neat it was we decided to give it a try. Holy cow this place is like Disneyland! They even have the shooting game like Disneylands has (in Frontier Land). It was fun to let Cam explore and to also be inside with the air conditioning.

Here we are inside the elevator that looks out to an aquarium. Cam was more interested, however, in the opening and closing of the elevator door.


Afterward we went over to my parents' house for dinner. On the menu was salmon, chicken, and steak...quite the meatfest! We have learned that to have a meal with others where we can actually talk at length, the best thing to do is to flip on Cam's new favorite show (this super cheesy DVD with kids from the 80's singing Bible Songs). Yes, I know at some point he'll need to learn to sit politely the whole time while the adults chat, but for now, I don't care and just want a peaceful dinner!

really??? I mean....really??

A while back as I was walking, I saw ahead two nice looking women walking their strollers. I thought, "How nice. Probably two grandmas getting together to walk the grandkids." As I approached, I realized I was quite wrong. The strollers weren't occupied by cute little cooing babies, but dogs. Yes, dogs. Do I need to say anymore?? Feel free to argue how you think this is actually somehow cute, because for the life of me I don't see it!

Anyway, here are some interesting facts about animals I found.

*Some frogs sing when the weather is going to change.
*A cats tongue is rough because the tiny barbs act as little scoops to help it drink.
*Lizards smell things with their tongues.
*Turtles have no teeth
*Bees have two stomachs, a honey stomach and a regular stomach.
*A dragon fly's life span is 24 hours.
*A lobster's life span is 50 years.

dashing through the snow...

Today we were at my parent's house and were looking through my mom's box of children's books. I pulled out one to read to Cam and realized it was a Christmas book. The book was basically pictures put to the words of "Jingle Bells". Just reading those words got me all excited. I love Christmas (I know, most people do so it's not like I think I'm unique!). There has been much debate with my friends over the years as to the appropriate time to start listening to Christmas music. For me, I say the day after Halloween I'm game. Jen thinks that is far too early. But let's be honest, we only get a short amount of time per year to listen, so why not stretch it out much as possible? I recently saw Christmas decor at Costco and it is only August. I'm not advocating listening this soon, but my point is that there are probably people who are worse than I. When is too early for Christmas music in your opinion???

fun outing

Yesterday we went to Yucaipa Regional Park for the first time. I had no idea it had a big swimming area. They have two fun looking water slides that unfortunately Cam is too short for, but he enjoyed splashing around the "beach".



As is typical, we spent as much time wandering around and exploring as we did in the water...

grandparent's magic dust

I think Chris's parents are hiding something from me...and I think it is magic sleeping dust. This past Saturday (while Chris and Cam were up visiting them) Cam slept 2 hours for his nap as well as slept in until 7:00 on Sunday. The dust must have remained with him because he again woke up at 7:00 this morning (however it has for sure worn off as he gave me his typical short nap today). So what gives?? I think they secretly use it on my nieces as well because my littlest niece slept in a couple hours past her normal wake time the last time they were up there. Hey, I'm not complaining by any means, but I sure would like for them to share the wealth so I could get a longer sleeper down here at our house!!

Maybe next time we are up there I'll ask Debbie if she has any magic eating dust to make my stinker eat like a normal human. I posted a while back that I tried making homemade graham crackers. I thought they were tasty (as did several others that tried them) but they never caught on with Cam. In fact, when I'd hand him one during a car ride, he would proceed to take it and then simply hold it in his hand the whole way home. So yesterday I decided to try something a little different, homemade granola bars. The Quaker ones he typically eats are filled with yuckiness. Mine taste like a healthy oatmeal cookie, in my opinion. But let's be honest, my opinion isn't what matters. And Cam's opinion so far is not too favorable. I think it is just because they are something new but I'm bound and determined to keep at it!!

the rest of the weekend...

Saturday of my "me" weekend started with waking up and laying in bed watching TV for an hour or so. Seems like not that big of a deal but for someone who gets up at the crack of dawn with Cam, to actually just snuggle back in my covers once I woke up was heavenly. I later picked up my mom and we went to Victoria Gardens for lunch and some shopping.



Sunday morning I drove out to see my friend Cheryl and her new baby. I then drove to my friend Jen's church to see her daughter, Ella, get baptized. I don't have pics of either which I'm very mad at myself about. Overall I had such a nice and relaxing weekend. I've been doing a lot of self evaluation lately (no particular reason) and am realizing more and more what an introvert I am. Yes, I love to be around good friends and love good conversation, but I also love to be by myself and am thankful I didn't make any plans this weekend besides lunch with my mom. I'm also so thankful to have a husband whose idea this whole weekend was in the first place. :)

Cam and Chris arrived back this afternoon. Cam had a wonderful time with his grandparents. As is typical, he spent the majority of the time outside their home, roaming around in the 100 degree heat. Maybe it is a boy thing, but I have never seen a kid love to be outside more than he does.



He loves their dogs. Click on the picture and you can see his huge grin.

I love this picture because it is such a boy shot...dirt and a dump truck.

ahhh....

Chris left this morning and is on his way up to visit his parents. He took Cam with him so that I could have a weekend of relaxing. So far so good. I've emailed, watched TV and read. I also cleaned out the refrigerator. No, this doesn't fit into the "relaxing" category, but it desperately needed a clean and it was kind of fun because it was such an instant gratification type of project. And as any mom can attest, once the end of the day comes, the last thing I feel like doing is cleaning. So it was nice to have a good chunk of time to do it, knowing I could continue my relaxing afterward!
(yes, it does look empty...it's amazing how much stuff we had that we rarely used!)


So what is on the agenda for the rest of the day? Not sure...but isn't that the point?

we are toast

About 3 minutes down the road is a shopping center. Guess what is going in? Frugos. For those of you unlucky enough to never have visited such a place, it is one of those do it yourself frozen yogurt shops (that I've blogged about before).

One word: DEADLY. Since my Starbucks card/limit policy is working quite well, I told Chris that we'll need to come up with some sort of policy for Frugos. Otherwise, we will be there every single day. Mmmm...I can just taste the cookies and cream yogurt with brownies, oreos, caramel, cookie dough...



On a sidenote, it has been so yucky, hot, and humid today! We went to the park this morning and only lasted about 15 minutes. Thank goodness for places like Inland Center and their play areas!

quick trick

Right now I'm reading a very good book called "Total Control". It is very John
Grisham -like, which is great because he is one of my favorite authors. One of the things I run into many times when reading a book is trying to keep all of the characters straight. The more there are the harder it obviously is. As I was reading, I found myself frustrated, and then the thought hit me, "This is my mom's book. I wonder if..." YES! My mom has a great system of writing herself a cheat sheet in the back of the book with all of the characters and their roles. As she encounters a new one, she adds it to the list. It has been so helpful to me and makes for a better read. This may not be that groundbreaking to many of you, but it is something I never would have thought of and have found it so helpful!



On a side note, I found it quite funny when I began reading the book as there were a couple phrases that really dated it. I wasn't sure when it was written until I read these two phrases, "He checked his electronic mailbox frequently" and "She took out her portable phone". So funny how words like that seem funny now in the world of email and cell. "Portable phones" remind of me of the huge, boxy, Zach Morris type from Saved By the Bell days. Didn't you think those were so cool??

goodbye

This past week Chris made his annual guys trip to Vegas. They had a great time as usual. Wendy and Ana spent Saturday with me as we awaited their return. Once they got back, both kiddos went to bed at the same time, giving us a good chunk of time to hang out as adults. It would be the last time for a long time that the six of us would be together as Noah and Wendy are moving to Oregon next week. We will be so sad to see them go but are excited for this new phase of their lives. The six of us have remained close friends over the past few years despite our move out here and now their move up north. Seems like we always have such great conversation when we are together...which I LOVE!

Sunday we headed out to their area for their going away party. Here are some pics.

The Vegas crew...

the spoon salad

My mom is the queen of salads. Chris often teases her because he has probably never had a meal of hers that wasn't accompanied by a salad. And when Cam and I go over there for lunch and return, he says, "Let me guess...salad for lunch?". Anyway, sometimes salads are hard to eat because a)you can't get a piece of all of your salad contents in one bite and b)it's hard to mix at the beginning and evenly coat everything with dressing. So...I invented the Spoon Salad (actually my mom initially gave me the rough idea). Basically you take all of your ingredients and chop them up super small, like almost food processor small (but obviously not to mush). Not only can you get loads more veggies in your bowl than you normally would, but it is sooo easy to eat and you get a little bit of everything in each bite!!

These are all the veggies that went into just my salad!


Here is the finished product, with chicken, craisens, green onions, and nuts. Also, I found a little trick to use less dressing. I sprinkle a couple tablespoons of water over the salad first. Then when you add the dressing, it coats much quicker and you use less overall!

jobs

For some reason I started thinking about all of the jobs I've held in my 29 years. I thought I would share and feel free to blog a post about your jobs (if you blog) because I'd love to hear about them.

"Fake Patient"-not quite sure what else to call this one. Basically Jen and I worked for Loma Linda Hospital and were given scripts to memorize of patients with a specific disease. The residents would be videoed and have to ask us certain questions (we would have to act the part) and then be graded. Quite interesting!

Manhatten Bagel-I loved this job! I liked working the early morning shift and getting to know my regulars as they stopped on their way to work.

Red Cross- Public Relations Intern

Cerritos Community College- Public Relations Intern

Retirement Specialists- Secretary

Mary's Shelter- worked with girls in a home for teen moms/pregnant teens

Knott Ave. Christian Church-secretary-I worked with Chris here and it was fun working at the same place, plus the people there were great and it was fun to have lunch with all your friends!

ABC Unified School District- School Psychologist Intern and School Counseling Intern

Gahr High School- Academic Advisor- this was my ending "career" job and what I went to school for. I LOVED this job and was sad to only work at it for 2 years before I quit when Cam came along.

Here I am on my first day at Gahr. They got me a welcome cake. :)


Mommy-by far the most fulfilling, amazing, fun, and satisfying job!!

Ok, so I know you are thinking, "Kelly is so beautiful...why didn't she list "model" as a job??" I guess I just didn't want to boast, but both Jen and I did do some modeling in our high school years. Well...I guess we were never hired...and...umm...we never really got paid anything...and...my sister was the photographer...but whatever... :)

I was almost too embarrassed to post these, but I just had to b/c they are sooo funny!

Don't you just love our bangs???

looking on the bright side

Before 9:30 a.m. I...
*Unloaded the dishwasher
*Made pizza dough (I'm trying whole wheat since pizza is one thing Cam will eat)
*Took Cam for a bike ride
*Took Cam for a walk to the park
*Fed Cam breakfast then read books
*Talked on the phone to my mom, Chris, and Jen
*Showered
*Emailed

Don't you wish your baby woke up at 5:40??? (sigh)

A. Snacks I enjoy…
My new favorite is toasted almonds and wheat thins (equal amounts in each bite!)
B. Five Years ago I was…
Working at Mary’s Shelter (home for teen moms), going to grad school, and living in Buena Park with Chris
C. 4 favorite songs…
1. Come on Over- Christina Aguilera
2. Everyday- Phil Collins
3. I Can Only Imagine- ?
4. Tainted Love- Soft Cell
D. A few things I would do if I won the lottery…
*Pay off our house/car and pay of our close friends/family’s houses/cars
*Start an account for random gifts (like for a person I knew that needed money for a special van for their disabled child)
*Disney Cruise for my extended families (yes, Susan, you would need to fly back!)
*Donate to missionaries who still need more support to start their ministries or to catch up current missionaries who are low on support
*Life time Starbucks card
E. 2 favorite movies from when I was a kid
Hello Again
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
F. What excites me
When Cam says new words
When my email box is full
When Chris and I get to go out to dinner
G. Three bad habits.
Picking at my nails and leaving them in the car (I know, it’s gross and Chris HATES it!!)
Feeling like I HAVE to have dessert every night
Forgetting things (like Chris will tell me not to forget the grocery list 2 minutes before we walk out the door and in that 2 minutes….I forget)
H. Last 3 things I listened to on my ipod
Dr. Laura (duh!) podcast
Sermon by Gary Inrig (Trinity)
Dave Ramsey podcast

a couple pet peeves

Here are a couple "minor and shouldn't be THAT big of a deal" things that have bugged me lately:

*I mentioned a while back that I'm somewhat of a yogurt snob in that I only like Yoplait. Cam loves yogurt also, but he is content with the Stater Bros brand, which is fine with me because it is cheaper. However the last few cartons I've noticed something. When it gets about half empty, it literally turns to the consistency of water. It has nothing to do with the expiration date. So since I end up wasting a half carton each time, I've decided to make Cam a yogurt snob and only give him Yoplait (hoping a name brand doesn't do this).



*I have grown to HATE motion detected toilets. Nine out of ten times when I get up, the toilet doesn't "sense" it and therefore does not flush. Sometimes there is a manual button, which is great. But many times there isn't. It is quite embarrassing to have to leave the stall, toilet full, and walk out as someone walks in behind me. I know they are meant to be more convenient, but please, please, I don't mind pushing a lever with my foot!!!