Year Five: A Letter

Dear Camden,

STOP the madness. I cannot believe that my little baby, the one that made me a mom, is now officially 5. FIVE! That's...ALL the fingers on one hand!

Camden has been up to a lot this past year. He started school, going to a Pre-K class that he LOVED. He was so disappointed to go to summer school that "wasn't the same". He is still a cuddler/hugger - giving good hugs at the most random times. He loves to be outside, "when the weather is so nice". He is a great helper, he has chores that he completes every week, he likes to help his dad mow the lawn, and he follows directions fairly well for a 5 year old. He likes to help feed the dog, change the trash, do any of the things I'm doing - especially if it comes to cooking. He can crack and egg like a pro!

He loves to swim, and this year he finally made the transition to swimming without floaties. He does great, and is a tan little fish. He gets to swim nearly every weekend, and some weeknights too over at grandma and grandpa's house. He still has sandy blonde hair, ridicuously long eye lashes, bright blue eyes and a tan that many girls would be jealous of. He is about 42 inches tall, and he weighs about 38 lbs, which is small compared to other kindergarteners in his class that are almost 6, and he's barely 5!

Speaking of growth - as he has continued to get older his toes are still turned in, causing his little hips to get out of alignment. God has blessed us with an amazing man of God and chiropractor who is helping us line his little body up right. We are adding little foot orthotics to his shoes to help his little feet turn out, and he is doing really well with them. We are believing in this miracle - that as he grows God will straighten him up!

He loves sleepovers at Grandma and Grandpa's, after church night on the weekends. He loves the sleepovers even more when his two cousins join him. He calls his cousin Kaitlyn who is 4 days older than him "my best girl". On some days, he will even ask if his brother can spend the night out with him because, "I really want him there".

He still prefers a morning sippy cup of milk in the morning, and a sippy of chocolate milk after school. He could live off of hot dogs and chili, I swear he might never get tired of that. He is a slow eater, but I hear that will change this year in Kindergarten, when they have about 15 minutes to eat their lunch. That will definitely be and adjustment, as he takes more time than my geriatric patients take to finish a meal. ;)

He sleeps well all night, and can still nap without issue. It's notable that during the school year he gets extra cranky by Friday's - because of staying up late and getting up when Mommy and Daddy leave for work, and there's just short "rest time" or "brain break" at school. On weekend though, he can still nap for an hour or two, especially on days when he has swam hard in the morning or been busy with the family.

His little relationship with the Lord is a precious one to see. He was helping his Dad mow the lawn not too long ago, and Dad asked him to push the mower that was turned off, to the front of the house. He started to push, quickly had trouble and stopped. He said outloud, "Hang on a second, I need to pray". He then bowed his head, said a silent prayer, and then looked up with a face of determination. Next thing I know, he's digging his toes into the grass as he's pushed forward with all of his little body weight to make that mower move, and by golly, he did it successfully, all while grining with accomplishment. It was one of the sweetest things to see! It wasn't that long ago that he was sick at school, and his teachers called to tell me they had changed his shirt that he got sick on, but were going to see how he did. I called and checked on him but he made it the whole day. When I picked him up he simply said "my tummy was hurting, but I prayed to God to help me feel better and then he made my tummy not hurt!". Faith like a child, so honest and pure.

Speaking of praying, we are working on praying about our whining and fit throwing. We are working on reminding him to stop and pray and ask for Jesus to help him calm down and ask respectfully for his wants or needs to be met - all without throwing a fit. He still has his good days and bad days at home, but overall, he's a great kid and is learning daily. He even told me the other day that he knew he could pray about his legs growing to be even lengths and that "God was going to fix it". Amen, little man; you definitely got this!

He is working on memorizing his first Bible verse, and pretty much has it down pat. Proverbs 12:22 is the verse. It was given to him at Gymnastics class and we talk about it as often as possible, and we repeat it in the car so he has it down pat.

Gymnastics is another new thing for him. He has so much energy, yet he could sit inside and watch his favorite TV show "Paw Patrol" for the entire night if we let him. So, we enrolled him in a gymnastics class for now. I think it's been good at teaching him to listen and follow directs, and in a large group setting. This will hopefully be something he will enjoy doing, and maybe he will want to try other sports and activities as we go on. He definitely loves swimming and has been asking about taking more swimming classes. We will see what develops over the next year for sure!

He's a smart little guy, always able to tell me different facts about things, and he is constantly learning. He still has some difficulty with speech, 'chip' and 'ship' tend to sound the same when he pronounces them, as do 'shoes' and chews'. Those darn "ch" sounds! Another thing is "think". It always comes out as "fink". I love it. And he told us that his grandparents recently took a vacation to "Alasaka" which - I didn't even WANT to correct him.

And oh, this little boy as a big brother. It is just heart melting. There are times when gets frustrated and pushes his brother, or takes a toy away from him, but you can tell he immediately knows it's wrong. As soon as Caysen starts to cry, he will be hugging him, apologizing to him and trying to get him to be quiet - and hurry! - before Mom and Dad hear! ;)

But in all seriousness, he is the BEST big brother. He is incredibly patient, he likes to teach him how to do things and get Caysen to follow his lead. He will pat him ever so gently on the head and talk to him, while Caysen "mm-hmm's" and nods in agreement with whatever he is talking about. He understands what it means to take turns, who goes first, who gets to watch a show and he is sure to make sure Caysen gets what he wants. Often times he will speak up for his brother, as Caysen will point to something and only Camden will see it, so Camden will speak up for him. He knows exactly what Caysen wants and is one of the best at reading Caysen's speech and motions! He is SO good at taking care of his brother! He will give him rides on his toys around the house, makes sure he has his blankie, and will always share a bite of whatever he is eating. Their relationship is really a sweet one to see. I pray that Camden will always be a great protector for his little brother.

Camden, I hope you know how proud we are of you as parents. You are smart, kind, honest and inquisitive. You have a tender heart, a beautiful faith, and a loving little soul. We can't wait to see what is in store for you, to continue to watch you grow, and to enjoy time with you while we have it. You are a blessing in more ways than can be counted, and we can't wait to see the ways God will use you in your lifetime. We pray you continue to deepen your faith and share with others, and allow God to mold you into the sweet young boy you are becoming!

We love you to the moon and back,

Mommy

Camden, Three Years. A Letter.

Wow. Three years? Is that even remotely possible?

You have changed so much this year. You are smart, spunky, string willed and so very sweet.

We spent much of the past year preparing your two year old self for your biggest life change yet - adding a brother. We talked about it so often that I think you were truly ready. We prayed for him nightly, and we would talk about sharing toys with him and giving him your old room. Now that he has spent the first of his life at the hospital, I'm not sure how much of it you "get". But you will ask to hold him. We don't push you, we wait until you ask. And when it does happen it's pretty heart melting! I can't wait to really see the two of you together. 

It's amazing how much you pick up these days. You are too smart for your own good. You have been spending extra time with your grandparents, whch has resulted in you complaining of your back hurting. You told your daddy the other day you were "going to go have coffee with mom and dad", which is what your grandma does on weekdays before work.  It goes to show you are listening when we don't think you are!

You talk SO SO much. You are adorable when talking, you can't say your Ls or your Vs well, but we are getting there! You love visiting brother in the hospital, and you love spending time with your cousins. 

You are wearing size 2T an 3T, despite the 3Ts being a little baggy. We finally got you to wear flip flops this summer. We have noticed your size 6 shoes are getting tight. You still love pouches, and are mostly potty trained. You told us not too long ago that you are afraid to poop on the potty. Here's to hoping that doesn't last too long! 

You are a good sleeper, and you still don't leave your bed without calling us to come get you. Despite having your world turned upside down with brother in the hospital, you have adjusted fairly well to the new routine, and can still nap with the best of 'em. 

You love practicing your flash cards with daddy, playing in your sandbox an demanding you get your way. 

Camden, you are still our first little blessing, the one who made us parents. The one who teaches us day by day more than we could have expected. We are so proud of you, and so thankful that God lent you to us. If there is anything I want you to get out of this broken world, it's just how great our God is, and how much he takes care of us. That has been shown to us so much lately, but we know you are too young to really remember or understand it. 

Continue learning, growing and being a silly little boy that you are. You are our joy, our excitement in the morning, our heart, our little snow cone lover. We are so proud that we have the honor of being your parents!

Birthday Party Pics Part 2

Here are some more birthday pics, cause if I don't post them, I'll be disappointed in myself later.

 I loved the party, every aspect of it. Who it was thrown with, who came, how we put it together and the family time after. It was so much fun, and such a great distraction from Sheldon. Much needed for sure! I think I already mentioned that all of the party was DIY. I made the Subway Art myself, and the banner myself. We baked the cakes ourselves, made our own icings and made the Oreo Mickey's. We made our own decorations including the Mickey pants and Minnie hairbow to go on our dessert table and planned out our food ourselves. My awesome co-party thrower MADE the pinata. I mean really, we are so awesome. :) 

One of my favorite captures!!!

The cake table!

The birthday girl and a friend.

blowing out the candles.

The birthday girls' big brother. Isn't he the cutest? He's also the sweetest!

Blowing out bubbles

Playing in the dirt with the boys.
It was after this that the dirt incident happened.

Aunt Marcie is the best present opener helper!

Party Pics...

In no particular order I have Party Pics from the bday. I don't know why my pictures show up in my layout all wonky, but oh well. I hope they work for you!

The table set up.

The cakes and cupcakes. They TOTALLY rocked.

eating his own personal cake. Yum!!!

Why use your hands when you can just stick your face in the cake?

A family picture with a no-so-cooperative 2 year old.

Emma's subway art

My favorite picture of the day, courtesy of Jennie. I LOVE the budda belly!

Mickey and Minnie Oreos!

This is from the night before. Camden learned how to climb a fence.
They were SO cute!!

Kinley came dressed to the nines for the festivities!

More to come!!!

My boy.

I love this boy. And he loved his birthday balloons.

I'm so lucky he's all ours!

Finally, a party post.

It was so so so SO much fun. Let me breakdown the party weekend for you.

I busted out of work on Friday in enough time to run to the grocery store, run go get pizza and then get home and pick up some stuff so my co-party throwers and family could come over. They showed up and it was time to eat pizza, and then time to get baking! I started making my oreo Mickey's, and then we busted out making some cakes.

I learned a ton of new tricks. Put parchment paper in the bottom of your pan and oil and flour the sides and you cake will literally fall out of the pan. And then to completely cool it? You need to wrap it loosely in saran wrap and put it in the freezer for a few hours. In fact, you could cook the cakes the day before you wanted to ice them. By wrapping them in saran wrap you keep the moisture in. Who knew? It worked like a charm.

Before we knew it, it was getting late. So what did we do? We busted out a glass or two of wine and kept going! Husbands were in charge of the kids running around like wild banshees, and making sure it was all fun and games, without any accidents. Kids were climbing fences and having a blast, they were so cute. We made the icing from scratch and it was SO good. We were glad to be able to do this so that my co-party thower's eldest could eat everything that was at the party despite his food allergies. Plus? Homemade is WAY better. It is so tasty!

Before we knew it, it was crazy late and the kitchen was a disaster. I threw some stuff in the dishwasher and hit the sack, but not before making a to-do list so I could make sure and grab everything on party day.

Saturday I woke up late. Camden slept WAY in, and it was a rare occasion. Once he was up I turned on some Bubble Guppies so I could finish making things for the party. Finished dipping my oreo Mickey Mouse's, made some dip and packed up all sorts of things for the day. Husband was gone when C and I decided to get up, we elected him in charge of meeting the people at the Grandparents' house so they could decide where to set up the water slide. By the time Husband got home it was time for me to get ready and to start packing the car. We dropped C off at his grandparents so we could finish prepping and they could hopefully put him down for a short nap. 

We set up for the party and before we knew it, people started arriving! Camden initially took some time to warm up to the slide, but after a few times down with Dad, he couldn't get enough. Camden went down the slide over and over with Husband, and the kids were NON STOP on that thing. At one point, Camden and some other little boys were taking a break. Keep in mind Camden was the youngest of the boys at the party. The other boys had little toys that they were using to dig in the dirt. Husband and I were watching from a distance when all of a sudden I had to nudge Husband and practically shout whisper "Get over there and get your son!". See, I had looked up in time to see him scooping up dirt and putting it on an older boys' head. And then getting another handful and rubbing it in. And then? Then he picked up a truck and Husband arrived just before C scraped the car across the kids scalp like he was trying to do. I mean, seriously. Little boy is already bullying kids bigger than him!! 

Then Camden needed to top that incident. A short time after the dirt escapade little C decided while sitting on a lawn chair that it was necessary to poop. And poop he did. And somehow it came out of the netting of his swimsuit and out into the lawn chair. I had no idea it had even happened, I walked up to my awesome Mother in Law hosing Camden and his swim suit off. At this time, I cannot even say if this was MY lawn chair or someone else's that Camden was sitting on. Oops. Haha talk about a Party Pooper!

After most of the party goers left, it was time for more family sliding. And we all went down together and had a blast after every one else left. Over and over and over again we went. It was so much fun! Camden was so tired, and so cold that he was shaking, but he would get to the bottom and ask and sign for "MORE"! We slid until it was time for clean up and then we waited on the guy to come pick the slide up. It was very worth our deal and so much fun. I wish more adults would have done it cause that thing was AWESOME! We got to grandmas house at noon, left around eight. 

By the time we got home we passed out pretty quickly.

Sunday we woke up and headed to church. We did our volunteering and listened to fabulous message about not giving up in your marriage. It was so well spoken thats for sure! We came home and I took a nap, because I definitely felt like I had been hit by a bus. I had whiplash in my neck even! After nap we went to my inlaws and did some more swimming, then grocery store and then before I knew it, it was my bedtime since I labored on Labor Day.

And that was my Labor Day/2nd birthday party weekend in a nutshell. It was SO incredibly fun. I can't wait to do it again! And I can't believe my baby is TWO! 

Party Planning and Sheldon

I have spent the past few weeks prepping for Little C's birthday party that is coming up. I am LOVING preparing for it. Searching pinterest and collaborating with my co-party thrower has been SO MUCH fun. I must say we have pretty good ideas and it should be a pretty cute party. I can't wait to enjoy the special day with our birthday kids.

In fact, I think I'm going to be sad when it's all over. Making little C's bithday special is something that I actually really enjoy. We have banners made, subway art and other decorations. We are making birthday cakes and desserts the night before, hoping for no issues! ;)

The only other thing we need to cooperate? Is the weather. Hurricane Issac is trying to make things difficult. Even though the storm is only moving at 6mph as of early Thursday, apparently they think it will swing wide enough to get a little bit of Oklahoma. Supposedly it's moving faster by Thursday afternoon and we will get rain FRIDAY instead. Praying that there is a minimal chance of rain on Saturday, otherwise the water slide people will not come to set it up. Fingers crossed!

Other than that, I have no Sheldon updates. It's been a week, and nothing new. I am waiting on a phone call for my referral. I have all of my scans and my report in hand, I just need another appointment. That's the hard part, the waiting. I just want to see someone and be done with all this. I really think I came home with a headache after that first scan. I mean, would that throw the whole thing off? Could it be a precursor for something else? Ah. Only time will tell.

Other than that, not much else going on. Preparing for the great bake off tonight, and a party Saturday. I can't believe we are celebrating his SECOND year!!

Two Year Pictures

Let me tell you the story behind these pictures. 

Camden's great grandma on my Husband's Father's side - her parents built this little teeny tiny rundown house on a corner, surrounded by fields in town. It's literally only a few miles away from Camden's Great-Grandma's current home. The area around it is starting to grow up, therefore it won't be long until this beat up house with broken windows and the inside that has been gutted, will be torn down for good. I figured this was a perfect time to get some pics of Camden outside of great grandma's old house. I absolutely LOVE the red door, despite how beat up it may be.  It adds character to the photos!

Camden was not the most cooperative this day, but I did manage to get some photos. I think he was just ready to be done with pictures, luckily I got enough to be happy with two year shots.  I had a few tricks up my sleeve to get him to actually LOOK at me, or at least enjoy the photos. The books are his current favorite, and he loves his trike as he is learning how to ride it. He was excited when we pulled them out, so it helped get a few smiley shots.

This is a pullback shot of my location! Great Grandma A's house!

Happy 2 years little C!