this isn't THAT bad, is it??

I've discovered something new. Now that Cam is the age to where he can (or at least should) be eating most everything, we are able to order kids meals at restaurants. The only problem is that since he is soooo picky, he would never touch anything in the kids meal (yes, even yummy french fries or fun shaped chicken nuggets don't entice him). To be honest, however, I see this more as a blessing b/c it saves us that much more money whenever we go out. Adding $5 to your meal adds up, and since he is just fine with a PB sandwich and apple, it's fine with us.

However what I have noticed is that kids meals are typically the perfect portion for myself. So since I can save about $4-5, I've started ordering a kids meal for myself. I've never had it questioned because we are standing there, ordering our food, with a two year old on our hip. I realize that technically this isn't 100% honest of me, because some menus do stipulate an age for the kids menu. But I guess my conscience hasn't affected me to the point of stopping my evil habit. And I guess I also justify it in that I never did this when Cam was a baby. I only started when he was technically old enough to be eating the meals. Not sure why, but this fact makes me feel better. :)

Yesterday we went to Palm Springs and I had the most delightful meal of a soft taco, rice, beans, and a drink for $4.99. Nice.

now don't get too cocky

*My huge nap success (and therefore cockiness about the ease of the whole transition) in the big boy bed ended abruptly today. After screaming off and on for 45 minutes, we finally got him up. Then literally 5 minutes later he was asleep in the car on our way to Costco. Sigh. We'll try again tomorrow!!

*It snowed several times today. Very pretty...although I'm ready for our normal weather again. :)

*"Damages" is probably the best show I have ever seen as far as the amazingly thrilling plot, great acting, and the way they hook you in week after week!

*Last week at Costco we got a bag of Gnocchies (tiny potato dumpling things). We have ordered this dish at Maggiano's twice, served with a Tomato Cream sauce. Our dish turned out ok. Not great though. Maybe we need to try a different kind of sauce.

*When you have to go to the bathroom really bad, boy is that feeling compounded by a little one kicking and kicking you!

success!!!

This morning Chris woke up feeling rather yucky. I ended up taking Cam to my parent's church. To be quite honest, I wimp out quite often on going to our own church simply because Cam does so well at Trinity (my parent's). This is due in large part to the fact that he is there for Bible Study every Wed. and my mom's group every other Friday. Knowing I have a guaranteed service of relaxing and not having to worry about him...I many times head toward Trinity.

Anyway, upon my return we prepared for our first nap in the big boy bed. I couldn't believe it but we had success...easy success!! After reading our books, I had him climb up and explained that we were going to take our nap on our big boy bed today. He fussed and started to squirm down, to which I used my firm mommy voice and said, "Cameron, you need to stay on the bed. We are taking our nap on our big boy bed." After leaving the room, he cried for 2 minutes, talked for 15, then was out! I never had to go back in and put him back on the bed!! He did sleep for a shorter amount of time than is normal, but it was still a success! Here is to hoping this continues. We will try the nighttime next week.

After nap we headed to Target. I needed a few things, but mainly wanted to give us something to do since we couldn't go outside. Right now Cam is watching his new favorite TV show, Oswald (thanks Rebekah!). We were excited to learn about this since it adds to the whopping one show he will normally watch. :) It is super slow paced and simple, which appeals to our little guy.

That's about all for our Sunday. Tonight we'll catch up on some Lost and eat frozen pizza. I know...all too exciting around here!!

saturday

I really hate the rain now that I'm a mom. Boy does it throw a kink in days typically filled with lots of outdoor activities. Luckily this morning we had our MyGym class, which took up a nice chunk of time. This afternoon we drove into OC and attempted to spend some time at a mall. Not quite sure what we were thinking as everyone and their mother also had the same idea. The play area was just too crowded for Cam. Luckily we stumbled across a cute little train and treated Cam to a ride.



Afterward we met up with Jeremy and Ana for dinner at Red Robin. Red Robin is sooo great for kids. A) It is nice and noisy B) We never have to wait, even on a Saturday evening C) They always get your food to you super fast. Cam was somewhat squirmy during dinner, but nothing that couldn't be subdued with snacks. :) We had a nice time and hit no traffic on the way home. Supposedly we only have two more days of rain to go (and yes, I realize I'm a wimp and I have no right to complain considering places other people live that have 10x the rain...but I still don't like it!).

ta-da!!

Here is Cameron's new room. We are still working on making the room familiar to him and haven't attempted sleeping in it, but he seems to enjoy playing in it so that is good. :)

So you can see our theme is baseball. On the left side, you can see part of Chris's ball cabinet. It is filled with a few of the homerun balls Chris's dad collected from Chris's baseball career...kind of special, huh?


Chris made the poster in the center and put a poem on it that his dad gave to him about life and baseball. Underneath is Cam's toy table which Chris's dad made.

happy birthday dad!

Back in high school, Jen and I started a tradition of writing poems for sisters' and friends' wedding receptions. I have to admit they were quite a hit. I kept up that tradition and will often write a poem for my family when it is one of their birthdays. Tonight we celebrated my dad's birthday and I couldn't resist...

Happy Birthday Dad!!
Here is to a dad that could never be matched
His parents surely knew his greatness back when he was hatched
As time goes on and as every week passes
He looks for ways to serve God, like passing out glasses
He flies around the world like it is no big deal
Knowing there are thousands of people whose hurts are very real
While he can’t reach them all, nor get to every one
He won’t stop until as many hearts for Christ he has won
Over my 29 years I have had time to log complaints
As many daughters have lists of how their dads weren’t exactly saints
But the number of things on my list amount to a whopping zero
You can’t find much wrong with a dad who is your hero
He may be a bit quirky, like eating butter by itself
But if he were a trophy, he would deserve the top shelf!!

project under way

Except for the curtains, which I will work on tonight, we are done with Cam's new room. Project "get him acquainted in the hopes it will be a smooth transition" has begun with daddy reading him some books on his big boy bed...



Interesting phenomenon with Cam and his naps. I've learned that if he falls asleep on the way home from something around nap time (which all of his things seem to fall around that time unfortunately and it is all I can do sometimes to keep him awake), it throws him off completely. Even if he falls asleep for less than 5 minutes, like today. I thought I was in the clear because he barely fell asleep, but was still obviously super tired by the time we got home. So what happened after we put him down? He jumped, talked, and yelled for over an hour. No nap. What the heck?? I know he was tired!!!