cuteness

Because Cam's speech has progressed much later than is typical, we are just now starting to really experience the, "Kids Say the Darndest" type things that come out of his mouth. What fun we are having with this! Here are a few:

*Today I asked him if he wanted to play Alphabet Surprise. This is where he takes the letter dice from Boggle and spells different words from ones he sees in his books. Sometimes I'll let him have one chocolate chip for each word he spells. So I asked him, "Would you like to get 10 chocolate chips (he likes to count them out) for your game?" He responded, "Um...maybe not. How about 20?" We compromised at 13. :)

*One of the ways he has started to engage us in conversation is to tell us what he wants us to ask him. For example, lately he started saying, "Mom, do you want to ask me, 'Cameron, what are you doing'?". I'll then ask him, as requested, and he'll tell me.

*This last one wasn't with his words, but I had to include it because it was so cute. When we had our family pics taken, we told him to give a thumbs up to the camera. This is what he did:

weekend

Saturday Chris took Cam to breakfast (when I say "breakfast", it's not like they go get a huge Grand Slam. Their routine is to get a donut for Cam, then head to McDonald's where Chris gets an Egg McMuffin). Kendall and I stayed back and went for a walk. After her nap, we headed out to Palm Springs for lunch at Costco and playtime at the mall. Sidenote: the Costco in Palm Springs has a crazy amount of samples each time we go. Yum! Jen, and her daughter, Millie, came over later for dinner and to hang out. Millie, despite not being too into going down for bed, was such a content little thing. While we hung out, Chris went and saw, "Grown Ups". He gave it a 7.5.

Sunday morning we hung out at home, then went to third service. I left Kendall with instructions to call me if she cried hard for 10 minutes. They buzzed me after 4. That's how hysterical she was. Kind of discouraging, but she has been doing really well with my mom, so there is a bright side to our bootcamp progress. Chris and Cam went to lunch and then to Walmart while I stayed back and Kendall took her second nap. When they got home, we got out our little pool and both kids had a fun time.

Chris and I are about to enjoy some frozen Gourmet Pizza we got a while back. Sorry no pictures!

p.s. I'm going on day 7 after stopping nursing Kendall. She's pretty used to it by now, but OH, MY GOSH AM I SORE!!! I never experienced this when I weaned Cam. I can't believe how painful it is and I'm counting down the days until I feel normal (the doc said it takes 7-10 days!). This is not fun!!

swimming

Today we met my mom at her friend's house to use their pool and have a picnic lunch. We had a great time. Kendall was sooo chunky in her cute swimsuit! Cam had a blast. He mainly liked Chris to jump off the diving board, which made a big splash. He wanted him to do it over and over and over and...

our day

Are you interested in a video of stuff (Kendall, Cam, and Chris) that probably only I find cute and entertaining?

There, wasn't that thrilling??? :)

currently

Currently...

...in my DVD player: Baby Einstein. I'm weaning Kendall (sad) and she is NOT happy when I get her up in the morning. Baby Einstein seems to distract pretty well.

...in my CD player: "San Clemente Mix": When Chris and I used to take road trips, we would make a CD for the trip with our favorite songs. Our friends made fun of us for how cheesy this was. This mix was from a leadership retreat we had for our church down by the beach.

...in my night stand for reading: Infidel

...in Cam's lunchbox at school: Yogurt, peanuts, string cheese, granola bar (yes, I'm not doing too well on the creative lunch box contents)

...on my tivo waiting to be watched: Bachelor (get rid of the wrestler!!)

...on my ipod: Dave Ramsey podcasts

father's day

We've started a small tradition of celebrating various holidays at a park with my parents. A picnic seems to be an easy, fun thing for the kids, which makes it fun for us. Today after church, we headed home so Kendall could get in a nap (question: when babies go to one nap, do they ever drop the afternoon one first? That seems to be the case...). After our nap attempt failed, we headed back to Redlands to meet my parents. It was a nice time celebrating my two amazing fathers.

today

What we did today:

*Took a walk with the kids to Staters to get a couple things
*Played Chutes and Ladders (Cam's new favorite) while Kendall took a nap
*Went over to my friend, Breanna's, to hang out and play
*Cam watched his new favorite show, LazyTown (talk about weird!)
*Cam took a big wheel ride while I pushed Kendall in her little red car
*Chris took Cam to Toy Story 3. He loved it!
*While they were at the movies, I took Kendall to Target. Got a Frappe from McDonald's on the way with my gift card Chris had bought me for Mothers Day (much better than roses, in my opinion!)
*At Target, decided to try on several things that I had no intention of buying (why would I torture myself??). These shorts were my favorite
*Baked some cookies for the nursery workers on Sunday. I want them to know how much I appreciate them making such an effort to keep Kendall happy while I attend church
*Discovered Kendall likes peanut butter, which I'm really happy about because it's healthy and has protein (unlike her food of choice, Graham Crackers)


*Currently watching, "Sweet Home Alabama" with Chris

take that!!

Today the kids and I went over to my mom's for a while. I wanted to try out their little car on Kendall so we took a walk to a nearby park. I thought I would share an interesting story about this park. A while back some of the neighbors were getting frustrated/angry because they noticed it was becoming a big teen hang out late at night (the park technically closes at 10pm). It wasn't just a hang out, but it was a place to sell drugs and drink.

They first tried to get the local police to drive by more often, but the police obviously had more pressing issues to attend to and couldn't make it by very often. So the neighbors next tried installing a camera. But you know what ended up working the best? Asking the city to turn the sprinklers on at random times in the middle of the night! Worked like a charm. I thought that was so funny! I could just see them scrambling in all directions. :)

costco

Costco list today:

Baby Wipes
Graham Crackers
Bananas
Peanuts
Salsa: I'm not a salsa fan, but if I were, this would be it. It is really sweet, which is probably what I like.
Cam's favorite sample: Granola Bar
Chris's favorite sample: Teriyaki Sausage
My Favorite: English muffin (not Costco's best sample day)

p.s. My friend, Karen, interviews different people each Wednesday on her blog. Today she interviewed my mom! If you would like to read, click here. :)

standing

Cam has a week off between the end of the year and summer school. Today we went to Celebration Park in Moreno Valley. I knew Cam wouldn't care too much about all the water fountains, but Kendall would be in heaven. Unfortunately the water part was under maintenance, however there was no "maintenance" going on. We had a nice time, however it's getting more difficult to bring Kendall to parks when it is hot. Since she does not walk, crawling on super hot cement or play equipment is out of the question. She did practice her standing today, which you can see she seems quite excited about (pardon the cottage cheese on her mouth).

It will be two weeks on Wednesday until we GO TO VEGAS!!! We are soo excited! We've been a little worried that the trip wouldn't happen because we weren't sure how Kendall would do with me gone. But she has made big strides lately in the, "letting other people hold me without crying" department. :) Case in point was this past weekend when Chris's dad came for a visit.

burping debate

Chris and I had quite the heated debate last night...

Chris: Was that a burp?
Me: Yep. I don't think you can control burps.
Chris: Yes, you can.
Me: No, you can't. You can close your mouth when you do them, but you can't keep them in.

Whose side are you on?

another random post

*Thank you very much for your encouraging words from my last post. They meant a lot. :) I think God knew I needed something to cheer me up. So yesterday He gave it to me in a huge way...in the form of Cam's performance at school. While he didn't graduate (he's only 3), he participated with the other boys and did AMAZING. I should preface by saying that when he participated in the Christmas performance, he spent the entire time in his teacher's lap, with his head buried in her chest. This time he sang, was happy, and just stared out at all the people with such confidence. I was teary most of the performance simply because I was realizing how far he truly has come. Here is a quick video of him receiving a certificate...

*This weekend is Chris and his brother and dad's annual golf weekend. Last year they went up to his parents' and this year they are at our house. Last night we ordered Gourmet Pizza and the guys watched the Lakers while I retired upstairs to do anything but watch basketball. Hehe :) Today they'll play two rounds and Cam will join them for the last 9 holes. He has done this before and is in love with the golf cart rides.

*The cooler weather is nice for a change. The only thing I don't like is if it is misty/wet, making parks not possible.

*Cam had a slumber party last night at my parents. He was spoiled rotten with all the fun things they did. However the highlight was actually their trip to Staters, which turned into a long and active ride in the car/shopping cart (I love those things). :)

*My hair has reached the point where I usually cut it due to the fact that all I EVER do is wear it in a ponytail. Not sure why I have such an aversion to wearing it down. I just hate when it gets in my face and on hot days, I cannot stand it on my neck. But if I cut it, I have to actually DO it each day...hmmm...

*We've started a modified envelope system. We will take out cash at the beginning of the month for groceries, eating out, entertainment, clothing, and misc. It was quite freeing yesterday when I delved into my envelope for groceries. There was no, "Should I spend money on this?", because I knew that I had a specific amount and if I chose to spend the money, I would have to go lighter on my next trip. We decided not to include things like diapers, toilet paper, etc. simply because those are musts. And I'm not ever really tempted to go crazy on buying too much toilet paper!

OK, that's about it. Have a great weekend!

*Caught this cute picture this morning. Sharing some cereal together.

*Kendall has tested her mama a lot lately. She throws quite the mini tantrum when I take something from her. Cameron never really threw temper tantrums (not to toot my parenting horn...it's just his temperament) so I feel like a fish out of water right now. Aren't these supposed to start closer to 2?? :)

*Kendall bootcamp is moving along. Chris took her over to my parents today (while Cam and I ran errands). He set up their new computer while my mom took care of Kendall. My mom pretty much had to hold her the whole time, but at least she was happy. That's progress!

*Loving, "The Next Food Network Star"

*I've been feeling pretty sad lately. Nothing in particular has happened, I just have found myself feeling down when I think about the road that Cam has had to travel as well as the road he'll travel the rest of his life. Honestly, sometimes it's hard not to play the, "life isn't fair" card. However it doesn't take much to jolt me out of my pity party. Things like a story on the evening news about children across the world who are orphaned and starving make me realize how wonderful of a life we are providing for Cameron. He has excellent teachers at school, food on the table, and parents who adore him and will help him as much as he needs.

*Dinner tonight: Chicken tacos

*Kendall's two favorite foods (and let's be honest, what she pretty much ONLY will eat): Chocolate rice cakes and Graham Crackers. Not a huge fan of this.

*Cam has a week off from school next week before summer school begins. Hopefully we can go to the beach one day. I'm so excited to see what Kendall thinks and Cam adores the ocean.

*I'm excited for my Tmoms get together tomorrow night. We are having dinner at one of the girls' homes. :)

all about Kendall

Chris and Cameron took a trip up to his parents' house this weekend. Kendall and I stayed back and have had a nice time just the two of us. So what have we done?

*We went over to my mom's and I left her for an hour. She cried hard at first, but my mom was able to distract her with some Baby Einstein. At least she was able to be distracted!

*We went to Inland Center to play in the indoor play area. She loves crawling around with the kids and I've been quite impressed with how careful the other kids are with her crawling around at their feet.

*I found an animal shelter and took her there to see the dogs. She LOVES dogs/cats and gets so excited whenever we see one on our walks. She was a little hesitant at first since they were all barking when we walked in, but she seemed to enjoy seeing them none the less.



*We've experimented with foods. She has proven to be QUITE picky. You can see how many things I tried during this meal. :)



*We played out in the backyard with the sprinkler. She doesn't mind getting soaked one bit! (I love how chunky she looks in the picture)



*She watched me clean our bathtubs with the best sponge in the world. What a difference!

*She suggested I go to Frugos since I needed a treat. How thoughtful!

fiber one

I bought some Fiber One cereal the other day because a) I thought it would be a healthy snack for Kendall and b) she has been rather constipated. I noticed a cookie recipe on the back. I attempted a batch for Cam and he is a huge fan! I substituted whole wheat flour and used applesauce for half the butter. I did add a few M&M's instead of raisins to make them fun, but overall I'm impressed with how healthy a cookie they are! Here is the original recipe, without my changes:

1 cup packed brown sugar 1 cup butter or margarine, softened 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 eggs 1 3/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup old-fashioned oats 1 cup Fiber One® original bran cereal 1/2 cup raisins

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat brown sugar and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. On low speed, beat in vanilla and eggs until well blended. Beat in flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt until well blended. 2. With spoon, stir in oats, cereal and raisins. On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart. 3. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until set and golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

boot camp

Yesterday we went to some friends' house for a Memorial Day BBQ. We had a great time and Kendall got dressed up for the occasion:

Speaking of Kendall, we are entering, "independent boot camp". Not sure if I have mentioned before the fact that Kendall pretty much will only go to myself or Chris. She won't even go to our mothers (for the most part) without crying. It gets a little tiring at times, like at her birthday when I could never pass her off to anyone else when I needed to do something.

Chris and I are scheduled to get away to Vegas in early July. I'm SOOO looking forward to it, but it is contingent on whether or not we can get her a little more comfortable with others. I wouldn't feel right leaving her with Chris's parents, knowing she would be fussy most of the time. If it were just her, it wouldn't be as big of a deal. However due to what her crying does to Cameron (sadly we have made no progress in that area), I don't want them to have to deal with that.

Anyway, Sunday she made it an hour in the church nursery (granted she was fussy most of the time, but it was still an hour!), today she lasted a while with our neighbor, and Friday I'm going over to my mom's for the express purpose of leaving her for a short time to see how she does. You can do it, Kendall!!