More Cell phone pictures...

{at daycare. He had just laid down for a nap when I arrived to pick him up. And he was sleeping so cozy!}

{I was too lazy to rotate this picture. But do you see the baby cellulite??!?}

{Relaxing in the sun at Texas Motor Speedway. It was VERY windy!}

Cell phone pics...

More work shots. Aren't the dogwoods beautiful? I love springtime. I love dogwoods. I am so over winter that I actually love my allergies right now. Yup, that's right. I said it. Thank goodness for warmer weather!

Adding texture to photos...

The other day at work, I snuck my camera outside when there were no patients around so I could take pictures of the pretty azaleas. That's where I found these very busy bees! Click on the picture to see it large, let me know what you think? I can't decide if I like the texture or not...

Busy Bee

Husband and I have been busy bees lately. We have done some deep cleaning on the house, really really scrubbed some places. I'm making baby food like a mad woman to keep up with little man's appetite. (Okay, okay, maybe I've gone a little nuts there is PLENTY in the freezer but I like having options to choose from!) We have planted part of our garden, we shall see how that goes. This year we planted potatoes, carrots, and some fruits like strawberries and blueberries. I am so excited to see how it turns out, and excited that we will have fresh things for little man!

This past weekend we went to a friend's gender reveal party. SUCH a cute idea. It was lots of fun!! We are so excited for her and her husband, they are expecting a sweet baby girl, exactly what they had prayed for.

With work and baby, somedays I get home from work and it is non-stop on my feet until we get Camden off to bed. I won't lie, I miss the days of just going to the gym and coming home and vegging on the couch to my favorite show. I have had to quit lots of shows, but I love my son more!

In other news...
We paid off our car. Yay! We had a five year loan that we financed and we paid it off in less than two years. Not bad, not bad. I am so relieved to not have to worry about that payment and can instead save up for Camden's college and pay on the house. Woot!

I have been practicing my photography skills. I think I am starting to get the hang of it! I am really enjoying it and I wish I had even more time to pursue this hobby, but for now I will take what I can get. My pictures are more in focus the way I want, so that's getting somewhere! I am hoping to find Photoshop Elements on sale for cheap somewhere so I can also have some fun editing software. Camden is lots of fun to take pictures of, I can't help myself! Gosh he's cute.

And on that note, time for bed.

Leaving On A Jet Plane..

No, not me.

But a bestie.

And this past weekend the girls and I went down to Texas for a last hurrah to hang out and enjoy each other's company.

So much has changed since we met almost ten years ago...(ten years? Is that even POSSIBLE??)

And it was so much fun hanging out. It's really like we picked up where we left off. So much has changed, marriage, babies, living situations, jobs, even hair color. But it's like we were never apart from each other.

We had an amazing time shopping, talking, eating, pedicures and of course a few drinks here and there.

It was so nice enjoying all of these restaurants that we don't have here in Oklahoma. That is always a plus, and we got to have a pazookie which is this amazingly warm cookie served with ice cream on top. Of course we had our fair share of gluten free - but honestly that stuff is JUST as good.

And the pedicures in Texas? They are DEFINITELY doing something right. Two words for you, hot stones. Yes, hot stones. They know how it's done because that was ahhhhmazing.

The best part though? Catching up with the girls.

And the Lotties. :)

Friday Fragments

It's been a long time since I have done a post with substance. Let me update you!

Well, last week we had blizzards. Record setting blizzards. Chris and I managed to make it to and from work every day (sometimes taking 2 hours going one way!), despite the mail not running for two solid days and the local paper shutting down for the first time in 105 years. Impressive, eh?

Then, this week we had MORE snow. It just wouldn't end, it was like we were in a snow globe that God kept shaking.

Two weeks ago on a Monday we went to the pediatrician for our follow up appointment after finishing a round of antibiotics. We were starting to sound good and the weather was actually nice (before Snowmaggedon 2011 hit). The doctor said, "He sounds great, keep him away from sick people". Ha! Famous last words.

By that Friday, daycare called me saying he had a fever and to pick him up. So I called the doctor. He said give him Tylenol. So I did that all weekend despite the green snot. Called again on Monday after, they said "He's probably teething, give him Tylenol". So I have. And our cough is back. And we are both super sick again. Pretty sure it wasn't teething, as I am pretty sure I had a fever at one point this week.

So now, we are still trying to heal. Camden is smiling and less fussy now, he's eating a bit better, still throwing up stuff alot but at least he's less hoarse and smiling some. I had missed my baby!

Thankfully, and end appears to be in sight. The 7 day forecast almost brought tears of joy to my eyes! Next week there are mid 60s and almost 70s forecasted! That's Snoklahoma for you, got to keep you on your toes!

Yesterday was another very disjointed day. Daycare kept calling me, not because lil C was sick, but because they had lost power at the daycare. They were going to have to move the kids to the Education Center of the hospital and needed my permission to do it. I got calls left and right, they didn't know what to do with all of my frozen breastmilk for lil C. They ended up moving it to another freezer so I could take it home with me and bring it back the next day but OHMIGOSH it was chaos for a while. Turns out, whatever the issue is, it is going to be a WHILE before they can fix it, so daycare will be running on a generator for quite some time. I guess the area that needs to be fixed is under the hospital or under the road or something severe. This translates to the employees not being allowed to use ANY extra power. No washing machines, no microwaves, nothing! This almost doesn't effect me, but I have made most of Camden's baby food and when I take it up there for him to start eating it there, they will need to thaw it by putting it in the microwave. SO... I guess we will wait and see what the best option is. Maybe I could just let it sit out all morning? That just doesn't sound good though...

I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend. As is husband because Nascar is starting. I am referring to the extra sleeping I have planned! :)

Have a good one!

Random Tuesday

{saw this bumper sticker on a car when picking up Camden from daycare.}


{You might have to enlarge this picture to see that the tag says "IM4FARV". I didn't know people still were for him, aren't they about sick of him?...}

Idiot.

A few weeks ago, late on a Friday night, Camden and I were just peacefully snuggling in our chair and I hear a loud CRASH, that literally almost made me jump out of my chair. Even the dog perked up and as we met eyes I know we were both thinking, "What was that?!?". While juggling Lil C I manage to get out of the chair and peek out of the blinds to see that our mailbox was still standing, so I figured there must not be much to worry about. (See, we live right at the center of a T intersection and we just KNOW that one day someone is going to turn the corner wrong/too fast and take out our mailbox).

Hubby gets home maybe an 30 minutes later and is questioning me as to what on earth was going on down the road. I hadn't had a clue as I only peeked out to check our mailbox. Chris said there was a wrecker towing a car at the end of the street, causing the street to be blocked off, as well as a cop car with its lights on. To get home, he had to drive the long way around the block.

Upon further inspection, we noticed the grass in the corner of our yard was very badly torn up. We followed the tracks up the yard, into the neighbors drive, and then back out to the street. Curiousity killed the cat husband and so he decided to walk down the street to see what was up. At this point, he noticed there was a person in the back of the cop car, and the wrecker with a wrecked little car with two front flat tires was pulling away.

Turns out someone did take that corner too fast.

They ramped the curb at the end of our yard, flew into the neighbors drive (they leave both of their Hondas parked in the driveway and the back of one of their cars got pretty scraped up). Then this person managed to end up back on the street but with a car that was no longer driveable.

Below are cell phone pictures of the trajectory. Notice neighbors driveway is empty (It was during the day when the pics were taken)




These pictures hardly do the damage justice, as it was snowy at picture time and it was covering up alot of the dirt tracks.



We are thankful no one got hurt, and the person who was driving recklessly got caught. In conclusion, drive careful people!

Surprise for Camden!

Last week, Camden and I stopped in to pick up Pearl at my parents house.

And there was a surprise waiting for us on the counter!

It was all pretty and packaged up with a sweet card from Grampa. He said that Grammy always gets Camden all the gifts, and this time he wanted to get something of his own for lil C.

It is odd that this was the exact baby cooker I had explored and watched tutorials online about, but hadn't figured out how to talk Husband into buying it.

Grampa read my mind! We are so excited to start using our new baby food maker and to start eating solid foods!





{The sweet card from Grampa}



stayed tuned for details of our foray into the solid food world. We may need to get rid of a rash first!

Non Specific Rash.

What is a non specific rash you ask? Beats me. It is exactly that apparently, non specific. Camden started an antibiotic last week to help him get rid of his nasty cough/cold that he's had for a month. He was started on Cefzil which is Pencillin based. He had some dry spots on his back before he started the antibiotic, but since taking it a rash has blossomed. And by blossomed I mean on his scalp, belly, arms, legs. It is especially bad on his lower back. I took him back to the pediatrician hoping he would have me switch meds or tell me what it was and that is what I got.

"A non specific rash". *facepalm*.

He said an allergy would have welts. He told us to keep taking the meds. And we are. In the meantime I have tried to think of ANYTHING that I may have possibly changed as we have never had a skin problem before. I went through the list. No new laundry detergent, foods, soaps, lotions, anything. He hasn't been too hot that I know of. He hasn't been wearing clothes made of anything odd.

So, I have no idea. I am keeping an eye on it to see how this turns out, but I can't for the life of me figure out what may have caused it. I am waiting to try solids (if he were to have a reaction, how would I know??) until I see if finishing the antibiotic clears him up. Time will tell.


{the infamous non specific rash}



Before this rash we had a slight problem with ringworm. We put cream on it and the skin started getting a little irritated. This picture below is why I may not win Parent of the Year award, as it "looks like a burn", according to the pediatrician.



On the plus side, this was over a week ago and it is almost completely healed up now. :)

But back to the rash, does that look familiar to anyone??

Well, it is the end of yet ANOTHER week. Where does time go? This week has been rather uneventful, but with nicer than normal weather. I hear this is going to be changing in the next 24 hours. :( I find this unfortunate as lil C and I are still struggling with our colds, and I feel like cold weather isn't going to make this any easier. Come on SUMMERTIME!

I am excited for this weekend. Namely because I don't have much planned. At all.

I need that.

The highest priority on my list? Sleep. I want to catch up on my sleep. And it sounds delightful. Besides that I want to research making baby food, as Camden is going to be starting solids really soon, and I want to whip up a few things myself. I hear it can be really easy, and I would much rather give him fresh/organic anyway. So, we will see how that fares here in the next few weeks.

Other than that, I plan to snuggle extra with my boys.

Mmmmm. Perfect!

A Letter to FMLA...

Dear Maternity Leave,

I must say, I have rather enjoyed you. You have been a very nice and well deserved break from the working world. I have very much needed you during those instances when the mister decides he wants to wake up 3 times in the night. I have throughly enjoyed sleeping in late with the little one to make up for these nights, and I will surely miss them while I attempt to work in a zombie like state with my cracked out looking eyes. I have enjoyed running errands and cleaning house at my leisure. I have loved getting visitors, walks during the day and catching up on tv shows while hanging out with the little one.

I must say though, who decided that twelve weeks was enough? (Granted I didn't take the full twelve cause I couldn't afford it, but even my SIL only took six weeks...How in the hell she did it I don't know...) Twelve weeks. It goes ridiculously fast, but seems so incredibly short. At this point the little ones still aren't sleeping through the night very well, most are still dependent on their mothers for food (if breastfeeding) and you expect us to be able to return back as good as new?

Let me just say, Canada has this all figured out. They get a whole year. Which I would say is the MOST important part of the little one's life. The first year you reach the most important milestones and really aid in developing them and shaping them. I can't help but think what Camden and I could accomplish in a year. We would have eat/sleep/play routines figured out. We would have set naptimes. We would be eating solid foods. We would be able to self soothe. We would learn proper play interactions and discipline according to Mommy. All of these things and I can't help but wonder how they will work out with Camden being at daycare, and in the care of others besides Mom and Dad for more than 40 hours a week. I know everything will work out fine, I just think about what the two of us could accomplish ourselves during this period. We will still get there, it just may not be the way I had envisioned, and giving up control is hard for a Mommy!

In conclusion, Maternity Leave, I really feel you should go back to your creators and demand more time for mothers. I know I will back you up!

Signed,
A happy yet tired Mom who is dreading work, only because she knows she is leaving half of her heart at home!

Reality TV

So I was discussing with a friend the other day the types of TV we watch. Of course, due to my reality loving TV husband, it seems that is the majority of what we watch.

While listing the names of shows we fit in, I realized there really isn't much that we miss out on. It is almost sad in a way, and since I am home with the Mister until November it seems that my reality TV addiction is growing.

We seriously watch some form of reality TV just about every night besides Saturday. Ridiculous!

Here are a few favorites:
*Amazing Race
*Survivor
*Big People/Little World
*Biggest Loser
*Teen Mom
*Top Model (this is allllll me)
*Rehab
*Apprentice
*Real World (eh, I don't really care for this one)
*StormChasers


One show that I really enjoy is Teen Mom and Sixteen and Pregnant. It's something about watching a horrible train wreck and not being able to look away.

Well, I just wanted to write about something random. :)

More updates on the Mister later!

Slacking...

I have been slacking on blogging lately. Whoops! Been busy taking care of a little man, what can I say?

No new news, really. But here goes...

We are refinancing our house to an awesome rate and close Monday. Everyone should check into that! Rates are fabulous.

Camden is six weeks old now! Time is flying. If it weren't for the sleepless nights I would want him to stay this way FOREVER.

I go back to work November 8th. Boo. The only positive I can find in this is that it is Daylight Savings the night before and we fall back. I feel like I am going to need it!



Its starting to feel like fall! I don't mind fall, I just don't care for what follows. Loving this weather though!!

That's all for now, maybe something of substance will come at a later date!