Gentle Hands!

We always seem to be working on "gentle hands". With animals, Pearl, our friends. Here is a hands on picture!!


We've been pretty busy here lately. Work, swimming, errands, enjoying our time together as a family. Since the pool has opened we have spent quite a bit of time enjoying the in-law's pool and being outside as MUCH as possible. I LOVE that about summer. It's pretty great being able to stay outside and really enjoy the sunshine until late in the evening. 


More substantial updates to come in a few days, hopefully once I catch my breath!

Chomp Chomp went the crocodile..

Little C has been challenging in more ways than one lately. Firstly, things haven't been going so smoothly in the teething department in our house. Little C has had a rough go, and I've nicknamed him my little crocodile. He's been biting and I keep getting calls from daycare saying he has bitten again. The past call I got, he had already successfully connected twice and attempted a third, all before lunch. Goodness gracious, what a little stinker! My sister bought him this awesome new book called 'Teeth Are Not For Biting'. We read it often. So far it hasn't sunk in I suppose. 

In addition to biting he's been throwing the mother of all fits when he doesn't get his way. He is testing Husband and I, trying to outlast us in the fit department to see if we will give in. After 45 minutes of a fit and timeouts and tears, he finally realized that he got his stubbornness from his parentals and we weren't going to give in. He finally did what we asked him, and was promptly rewarded with his sippy of milk that he wanted in the first place. It has been so challenging.

I posted this as my FB status the other night.

(Click to view larger if necessary)

And it is honestly SO true. Despite all fits, tears and frustrations that we all have had, I couldn't be happier. I am honestly blessed beyond measure to even have the opportunity to be this little crocodile's mother. 

Sometimes, you just need a little perspective. And God gave me a nice little nudge right when I needed it.


Happy weekend, all!

25 Random Things..

25 Random Facts. Because everyone is doing it.

-I hate my socks to be mated. Husband helped with laundry the other day and mated my socks. It is wrong on so many levels.

-I love buying shoes. Its almost always something that I can guarantee that will fit. Can't go wrong there!

-I feel so very pampered when I get a pedicure. They are so ridiculous for someone else to paint your toes but if they do a good job and rub and massage? It's totally worth it. And am I the only one that swears the polish lasts longer when someone else paints it?

-I usually get my hair cut about 4 times a year. My hair is extremely boring. I don't color it anymore, its too much upkeep and just an added expense. And my hairstyle will probably never change. I cut it short, let it grow and repeat. Four times a year. Hey, it's curly. What more do you expect?

-I don't like getting in water that I can't see my feet in. I think it's disgusting not knowing what's down there, and apparently this means I watch WAY too much reality TV. But seriously? Gross y'all.

-I'm not a huge fan of surprises. Good or bad, I guess I don't like feeling unprepared. However, I do think that I am extremely good at my poker face. So if it's bad? You won't know. If it's good? I won't know how to express it. So be warned!

-I hate grocery shopping. I am not good at planning ahead at my meals for the week, and I always tend to forget something at the store. Also, chasing around a crocodile toddler? Makes it that much more challenging. I don't mind it so much when I get to go ALONE. Sans toddler and husband and I can try on Target clothes as I please. :)

-Horses are my favorite. Those of you that knew me in high school know that I had a horse, and I spent every waking hour at the barn, riding, cleaning tack, bathing my horse or just playing. I have the BEST memories from that.

-I have self diagnosed SAD. (Seasonal Affective Disorder for you non med field folks). I absolutely get so depressed once we have to close up the pool and the winter and cold makes me cranky, irritable and downright depressed to have to deal with. This past winter? AMAZING. It was great.

-My favorite candy bar is a Kit Kat.

-I love sleeping. Back in the day, BC (Before Camden) Husband and I would hit the hay by 9p, and sleep until 6 before getting up for work. On good days we would go to the gym at 445. Nowadays I am lucky if I am in bed before 10, and I am up by 515. I do miss my bed. A lot.

-One of the best parts of summer in my opinion is homemade ice cream. My grandmother used to always do that for us, I loved it.

-I eat a ridiculous amount of peanut butter. I know I've said this before, but Husband thought that Camden would come out being made of peanut butter. And my love for all things PB remains. In fact, I have a PB&J daily for lunch. I probably need to work on that.

-I stumble over words way more often that I'd like. Especially in front of people when I am leading groups at work. I called a 'button' a 'nutton' the other day. #fail

-Something I love and despise all at the same time regarding my job? Working every third weekend. It's a love/hate relationship.

-No one ever understands what my job entails. Its hard to describe at times.

-Reality tv may be my downfall. Its so annoying. And I love it.

-I have cleaned a toilet ONE TIME in this house in five years. Winning! (And no this doesn't mean they are dirty, it means my husband is awesome!)

-I really want to run in a 5k. That should be so easy but working weekends makes that harder. Also someone needs to train...

-My dog is so spoiled its unreal. She has her own pillows, platform to look out the window and goes to doggie daycare daily. She was my first baby!

-I have no tattoos. That is odd for this day and age. I just can't think of anything important enough to put on my body permanently. Well, I take that back. I could think of a few things but no where to put it that it wouldn't be annoying where I'd have to cover it up or something ridiculous like that.

-I really want to take a vacation somewhere this year. But I'd like to go somewhere new. And? A true vacation is sans toddler. I love my child, but a relaxing vacation needs to be without having to decide what he will eat, when we can nap, etc. I can't wait to vacay to Disney sometime, but for now? No kid. If I would go somewhere repeated? NYC. So much awesomeness to do there.

-I hate math. I am not very good at it, either. I took an extra math class my senior year of high school so that I wouldn't completely suck it up in college. I gasped for air all the way through my math classes in college and was thrilled to be done after college algebra and elementary statistics. Lets just say Little C better go to his Dad for help with math when he gets older!

-I can't listen to the Beatles song "In My Life" without crying. Memories!

-I'd rather eat raw cookie dough, with raw eggs even (sick!) than have a cooked cookie. I'm seriously addicted to cookie dough. It's bad.


I think that's about 25. And let me just say, that took some time!

Okay, your turn!

21 Months: A Letter

Dear Camden,

As we draw ever closer to 2 years, I'm amazed at how big you have gotten every day. This month it seems like we can't teach you enough to satisfy you. You are learning new body parts and words by the minute, and jabbering up a storm. 

You are wearing 18 month clothes, and 18-24 month pants. You are wearing a size five shoe, and your adorable giraffe Toms are starting to fit better and they are RIDICULOUS. Sometimes I can't take the cuteness. You are wearing a size five diaper, still cloth diapering on the nights when I can start laundry as soon as you wake. (it stiiiiinks).

You had a doctors appointment on the 10th and you weighed in at 25.2 lbs, (28%), height was 32.6 inches (32%--there's no way this could be accurate with the way you fight having to lay down at the doctors office. Laying down=shots, so I don't blame you). Head was 47.4 cm (29%). 

You are sleeping from about 8 until 5:30 in the morning and napping 2-3 hours. You have a new bedtime routine. We set your room up and you have to say night night to Curious George, your new wall painting. You then say goodnight to your animals, good night to your cars. Then you proceed to holler for BEARRRLLL and she comes trotting in. I have to pick her up and you kiss her goodnight, give Mommy a kiss, Daddy a kiss and you lay down. Some nights you talk yourself to sleep, other nights you go willingly.

Speaking of Pearl, your relationship with her is adorable. You yell for her all the time, look for her when you wake up. You like to bring her toys, trying to get her to play with YOUR favorite toys for her. You think it's funny when she takes her toys from you, laughing and grinning. You will pet her and kiss her, and listening to you yell for her is just adorable.

You are learning new words by the minute. You are getting better at stringing words together, we are making you say "more milk please mom" and things like that. We usually have to walk you through that many words, but you're getting there. You hate being told 'no', but are getting much better at dealing with it. You say thank you all the time without being prompted. I can't express how sweet that is! I want that to last forever. 

Your new room at school is going well! You adjusted right in with your new teachers, and you LOVE getting to see your favorites on the playground. They say that you always go to play with them on the playground, not your new teachers. Silly boy. You are napping well over there, eating well and enjoying crafts. You are mostly playing well, but after 9 days in the new room you got a little mouthy. And by mouthy, I mean that you bit a friend. And not tired to bite, you connected. And you were unprovoked. Unfortunately, you still have a bottom molar that just won't break through. It is taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r, and we seem to think that your frustration with the pain associated with teething makes you a little bite-y. So my little crocodile, we are hoping that comes through soon! 

You graduated swimming lessons with two more ribbons. I'm so proud of you and your comfort levels in the water. You were fussy your last few swim lessons, wanting to do what you wanted and not what we were instructing you to do. So strong willed! By the last one you were able to row with you hands, and kick with your feet. Not at the same time, but we will get there. You can 'dive' underwater, you can jump in, and float on your back with assist. We are officially ready for swim season!

Your favorite thing this month has been watering and mowing. You are LOVING all of Daddy's outside chores. As soon as we get home from anywhere you ask to 'mow mow' and will run over to the mower and start pointing at it, the weed eater and the blower and just jabber away. If it's not a mow day, you will gladly help us water. You have three different watering cans and you love to get them filled and water the plants we point you to. You cry when it's time to stop and go in. Such a little helper! 

We made your second trip to the zoo and you seemed to throughly enjoy it. You know most of the animals we saw, so it was fun to really see them in person. Mommy and Daddy decided to buy a year membership. It was only 65 bucks and will pay for itself after two or three more trips, and it's good til May of '13 and its a tax write off. After showering or bathing you always ask for "mick-me woom". That's because you want to watch Mickey in your room. Such a silly kid you are. We try to get you to watch Veggie Tales but nothing else seems to catch on right now. You will cry as soon as we switch over. One of these days it'll catch! :)

Little Crocodile, we love you so much. Keep learning!

Mommy

Going to the Zoo

Thursday night after work, a few of the girls from work went out to this cute little cafe out on the river downtown. I had never been there before, but there was live music, fried foods and a cool breeze. It was relaxing and nice to get an evening out. If you squint while sitting on the water you can almost imagine you are somewhere where the water is clear and blue. :) haha.

Husband took this past Friday off, on a day that I already had off so we could take our little monkey to the zoo. It was great to be able to spend a morning together, enjoying each other's company. It was relaxing, we really ought to do that more often.

After coming home and having lunch, all three of us had a nap. It was glorious. I think I got in two hours of sleep, it was definitely amazing. All I had really wanted for mother's day was a nap, and it didn't pan out since little monkey didn't nap that day either. So I finally got my nap, just a few days late!

Once we all woke up, I did our grocery shopping while C and C stayed behind and watered and played outside. It was a simple day, but so incredibly enjoyable. Sometimes it really is the little things, you know? Also, I think I really enjoy grocery shopping at Target. It may or may not be because I enjoy perusing the clothes section. And their toy section really puts WalMart to shame. Sometimes I can't pull myself out of there!

Monday should be relaxing as well. Don't have much planned, just need to work on planning a baby shower! :) Fun stuff!

Hope you all have a fantastic rest of the weekend!

Midweek Randoms

Things have been more than hectic around here lately.

-Camden had his last swim class. We are stopping since it's time for pool season, and homeboy was starting to get fussy while in swim class. Time to play for the summer.  He did get two ribbons, so he had one proud momma for all of the skills he did accomplish.

-Glee last night was amazing. It touched on so much - like domestic violence and bullying. I may have cried a little. They get so deep. Then Lea Michele sang Celine Dion. She's so good. Goosebumps.

-I am doing horribly on getting to the gym more than twice a week. It's rather unfortunate. With swim lessons on Tuesday and husband has soccer on Thursdays it doesn't leave me as many options as I would like. Definitely need to change that. As much as I like my off weekends, maybe it's time I change that.

-Interns started this week. Whew. Here's to a busy ten weeks.

-Camden is so cute these days. He's picking up on all sorts of stuff but one of my favorites is listening to him call for "BURLLL". He calls for "burl/bearl" as soon as he wakes up. He gives her hugs, and most importantly he calls for her before bed so he can give her a goodnight kiss. It is incredibly precious.

-That's all I've got. Hopefully more things of substance later. Once I catch my breath!

Dedication Letter

Dear Camden,

 

Today was your dedication. You may wonder what that means. To your Daddy and I it means that we are dedicating ourselves as parents to raise you to be the best we know how. And by doing that we are most importantly proclaiming to teach you to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and might.

 

Camden, you are one year and eight months old. You are a bundle of energy. You are growing, learning and exploring daily. You are a challenge to your Daddy and I. You are just learning to communicate your desires and your wants and it's hard for you when you can't adequately express yourself. Learning rules and limits takes patience and repetition, and you are learning slowly but surely.

 

I'm reminded of the analogy of a marble. It represents you, the child. It sits on a table and as parents we want to apply just enough pressure to appropriately guide you. If we apply too little pressure, nothing happens. If we apply too much, you shoot out from under our grip to never return. As parents we hope to be able to gently guide you to the stunning young man we know God has you destined to be.

 

You are very strong willed. Most people would look at this as a weakness. We choose to view it as a strength. It may be hard for us now to parent you properly, but once we get through to you and teach you how to channel it, I think it will be one of your biggest assets. I pray that God will use this quality to give you drive and determination to reach all the goals He has in mind for you. 

 

Being your parent has taught me so much, and I can't thank God enough for this opportunity. I have learned to see the world from a different viewpoint. To view things simply. To find joy in the small things, like blowing bubbles or seeing a dog, or holding your Mickey Mouse stuffed animal. I smile to myself every time I hear you tell nigh-nigh to everything in your room before falling asleep, and snuggling with your arms under your little body with your rump in the air. I cherish these simple moments more than I thought possible.

 

Your Daddy and I have really found a home at church, and we pray that you feel the same as you continue to grow. We want you to be involved in the kids programs, to make friends and to enjoy going to church and serving at church as much as we do. We pray that God will give us the tools and wisdom to guide you. We are so fortunate that God has chosen us to parent together, and that He entrusted your little soul into our care.

 

Your special verse for this day is Zephaniah 3:17.

 

"The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.”

 

I had a tough time picking a verse. But this one kept sticking out at me. The part about God being mighty to save is something I hope you never forget. I want you to know that no matter what you go through or difficulties in your faith, God is always there, delighting in you. It also says that the Lord will rejoice over you with singing. I felt the same way as God did the moment you were born. I was delighted. I was overcome with quiet love, admiration and oh so proud of you. And as your CiCi says, what a glorious picture, imaging the Lord rejoicing singing over us.

 

Camden, your Daddy and I love you so. We are so blessed to call you our son, to be on this parenting journey together, and with such an amazing little boy. We love you!

Mommy

 

*****

 And Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommies out there, and especially my mother, and my mother in law. Hope everyone had a fantastic day!

Weekend recap

There is so much happening lately, that it's hard for me to be able to keep track of everything that I want to blog.

The weekends just fly by, you know? I feel like I can barely cram all the things I want to get done into my two days off on the weekend. It goes unbelieveably fast. 


This saturday morning we spent at my brother in law and sister in law's house, where husband helped build a fence. Camden and I went to hang out with the company, it was lots of fun. Camden loved their outside toys and enjoyed playing at someone's house that wasn't his. He got to watch Elmo and only had two mishaps, falling off a chair and falling off a bed he climbed on.  I was discussing this with husband the other day, about how he has no concept to be careful of heights because he has always had us catch him before he falls and hurts himself. Unfortunately it seems the best way to learn about heights is to fall a few times. That sounds so mean though, doesn't it? After being repeatedly told to sit down in the chair and then falling, he quickly learned to stay seated the rest of the time. 

Anyways, we stopped at the first day of the Broken Arrow Farmers Market and preused the fresh goodies and soaps. There was so much to see and Camden excitedly pointed out every 'dog' that he saw along the way. It took all I had to not buy some goat cheese and goat soap. So cool!

Saturday afternoon we had a birthday party to attend. It was for a co-workers son, and they happen to live right down the street. I woke Camden up from nap early, and we headed down the street. Same story for Camden, he LOVED playing at someone else's house, with someone else's toys. He went down their slide, played on the trampoline and dug for fossils. He refused cake, but loved the koolaid.

That evening we ran to Reasor's to go to their meat sale. We got a bunch of KC strips and some ribs for decent prices. We stopped and got pizza for dinner and came back home in time to put Camden to bed.

Sunday went equally as fast. We had our usual Sunday morning waffles and went to church. Camden has been a picky with sleep kid this weekend. He is SO tired, yet really fighting sleep. He will lay in bed and emit a high pitched scream or just talk to himself non-stop before finally going to bed. This being said, he was about 2-3 hours short of sleep both days, so by the time we picked him up from LifeKIDS on Sunday, he was sooooo tired looking. His favorite teacher comes in at 1130 and we pick him up at 1200. Luckily, fussy pants mcgee really responds to this sweet girl, so she held him and he calmed right down. She said that the other workers asked "how did you do that?" and she just answers that he just really likes her. Which he does. He runs up to her and fights other kids off of her lap, and clings to her for the 30 minutes she's in the room. After church we came home and had a quick lunch and put Camden to bed before heading back up to church for a meeting. Afterwards there was Nascar and naptime for Hubs and I, and then we went to dinner at the in-laws, got the boys haircuts and then headed home.

It was a great weekend, but it just went SO fast. Such is life. I may never catch up, but who cares! I have too much fun family time to enjoy!

Random Fridayness

Wow this week was buuuusy. It was one of those weeks where I barely felt like I could catch my breath. There was just so much stuff to do! I feel like I was productive, so that is an added bonus. 

Camden has continued to be a fussy pants for the past two weeks at swim lessons. It's getting ridiculous. I don't know how to fix that, or why he's doing it. Unless it's the fact that he wants to be independent, and he can't yet. Only a few more weeks little C, and mommy will stick floaties on you and let you at it.

He's teething, so that isn't so fun either. He has ONE molar that is left to pop through. Which means there is only 8 to go! He has been a bit of a mess lately at school, trying to bite and at one point even being successful. I have nicknamed him 'Fangs'. I can't wait til that last tooth pops through and maybe he will quit trying to bite. He definitely hears us when we tell him no, since he repeats "no no bite" all the time. I guess it isn't sinking in. (pun intended).

Today was his last day in his current room at daycare. He is more than ready to move up and I'm excited for him to go. But at the same time, it is incredibly sad. Not only did he attach himself to his teachers in his room, but I did too! I am going to miss running into them daily, and sharing their stories, and making silly jokes. Its time to meet new friends, but I'm still so sad! The girls wrote Camden and I the sweetest note, I was glad I waited until I left to read it. I was crying in my car at the stoplight! It will be a perfect addition to his memory book. I know they were equally as attached, you'd think we were breaking up or something. Or you'd think Camden was graduating high school with the way we were all getting sentimental. :)

Camden on his last day in Weebles. Bittersweet!

So back to the whole teething thing. He was up the other night screaming for an hour, refusing to go to sleep. Nothing could console him either. When he finally passed out, I breathed a sigh of relief. But I don't know what took him so long to go to sleep! In that hour he did manage to climb out of his bed again, and pitter patter down the hall while upset. Neither Husband or I could bring ourselves to reprimand him, he was so incredibly pitiful. I'm afraid we may be moving into toddler bed time before we know it. I don't know if I am ready for that either! That is a transition I am definitely nervous about! Suggestions are definitely welcome!

Well, that's all I have for now. Since this week really wore on me, it is time to hit the sack so I have enough energy to get through the weekend without a nap. It doesn't appear naptime is going to fit into Mommy's schedule this weekend! Have a good one friends!

Parenting.

You know that feeling of the unknown, the uncertainty you feel about so many things when pregnant? Pondering questions about feeding, sleeping, daycare. Questions like, "where is the instruction manual?", or "how am I supposed to set a routine?".  I remember all of those questions running through my mind. I also remember pondering how the husband and I were going to be at parenting. There are so many unknowns and you honestly have no idea how your significant other is going to change or react to a little one. My husby has really shown me that he is sensitive to Camden's needs, and is receptive to any instruction or suggestions I think of. I hope the same goes for me as well. I found it shocking initially, how he just stepped into the role almost effortlessly. I think I had expected to have to take on the role of disciplinarian why Husband played the role of "good cop", so to speak.

The other day Husband and I were in the kitchen with C. After repeatedly telling little C 'no, he wasn't allowed to pull a tray off of the counter', he succeeded.  This resulted in the spreading of leftovers that made Pearl googly-eyed. Husband swooped in before I could react, took little C's arm and got down on his level. He followed my instructions of making sure little C was looking us in the eye when giving reprimands, and told him that we had already told him 'no' and that he wasn't supposed to disobey us. He patiently walked Camden to timeout, sat him down and told him to sit there. By that time Pearl and I had cleaned up most of the mess, so I stepped in and enforced the sitting in time out until ready to get up. Before I knew it, Camden was ready to get up. Husband stopped what he was doing and rejoined us, and told little C to apologize before getting up. Camden looked at us and signed 'sorry' and then he was on his way, tearless the entire time, but absorbing.

I was just amazed at how well we worked as a team. We took turns enforcing and setting the limits and C seemed to really be taking in how we were on the same page and tag-teaming with our directs. It really felt good, you know? High-Five Parenting! 

 

Overall, I'd say I was pretty nervous about how things would shake out initially. But as Camden has grown older we have had to set more boundaries and limits. So far it has been great to have my Husband parallel to me in the role of enforcer. Go team!!