Cameron is 8!

Our family has been pretty busy lately, so I have a LOT of blogging to catch up on! On December 7, 2009 my sweet boy turned 8 years old! I can hardly believe it! It was extra special this year because he had a new sister to share the day with...and she turned 8 months on the same day!!!

He and my cousin's daughter, Casey, have birthdays two days apart, so we rented out a skating rink and had a double party! He was able to have lots of his friends celebrate with him. He had a great day and we all had a lot of fun. As always, Grandma, Grandpa, and his cousin Dolly-Mae made the trip from Colorado to be here for his special day. My kids are so lucky to have two sets of the most amazing grandparents on the planet!!!

On Cameron's "real" birthday, we had dinner at Nana's house with a few of our close family members.

So, what is our boy up to these days? He is a very BUSY kid! :) He loves every minute of it and even though it gets a bit crazy at times, we wouldn't have it any other way!

He is playing hockey for the Queen City Hockey Association this year. This organization is new to us this year, but we wanted to try something new. His team is the Queen City Railers. They still take turns playing the different positions, but he is really showing an interest in being a goalie. That's bad news for mom and dad, though, because goalie gear is WAY more expensive than regular gear :) He is also taking skating lessons to help with some of his skills and we have noticed a huge improvement in the last year or so.

He started taking piano lessons in the fall and has learned a lot so far. He eventually wants to learn to play the guitar, but I think he's still a little young for that, so we started with piano. He really seems to enjoy it, but doesn't always want to practice...I guess that's normal, though.

He's in his second year of cub scouts. This doesn't take up a ton of his time because the meetings are only twice a month, but he enjoys it. He is looking forward to learning how to shoot a gun and bow and arrow. Yikes!

His major obsession right now is G.I. Joe and Legos. He has all of Brandon's G.I. Joe action figures and vehicles from when he was a kid and he spends countless hours playing with them. He loves putting together Lego sets...but who doesn't :)

Cam is a second grader and is doing very well in school. His recent report card was full of high marks and excellent comments from his teacher. I am able to volunteer in his classroom once a week and his teacher is always bragging on him and his behavior at school. I have to admit, I wish he was more like that at home every day, but I'm happy that he's doing well at school!

I could go on and on...Cameron is such a joy in our lives. I am so happy that God blessed us with such an amazing son. He always brightens up my day and keeps us laughing!

Here are some recent pictures as well as some from his party!

Attitude of Gratitude

I have the pleasure of directing the 1st through 3rd grade children's choir at our church. Tonight was our fall concert and the kids did a Thanksgiving Mini-Musical called "Attitude of Gratitude".

Since Cameron is in 2nd grade, he is in my choir. He "sorta" enjoys it, and I think it's good for him so I make him go. His favorite thing about choir is when there are speaking parts available! He loves acting and gets so excited at the opportunity to do so. He tells me and everyone else all the time that he "HATES" singing. So, it shocked me greatly when, at rehearsal, I was asking the kids who would like to sing a solo part and he volunteered!!! I swelled with pride :)

Anyway, he won't be winning any Grammys anytime soon, but he stepped out of his comfort zone and that makes me a very proud momma! He was VERY nervous all day, but he did a great job and was so proud of himself! He kept singing his part over and over again when we got home. He had a small speaking part, too, but it's hard to hear, so I'm just posting the video of his solo. So proud of my sweet boy!

Halloween 2009

Halloween was so much fun this year! Cameron always loves getting dressed up and it was Callie's first Halloween. Trick or Treat night is usually a different night in Blanchester (my hometown) than it is in our neighborhood, so we always hit both! Plus we have a Trunk N Treat at our church, so Cameron always has way more candy than we can ever eat!

Karen (Grandma) has made most of Cameron's costumes and has always done an awesome job! Cameron always gets a lot of compliments on his costumes because Grandma always goes above and beyond to make sure that they are very special! This year was no different.

Cameron provided Grandma with a bit of a challenge this year. He has recently become interested in G.I. Joe and has started collecting the action figures. Grandma also had all of Brandon's G.I. Joe figures and vehicles from when he was a kid and sent them out for Cameron. He plays with the stuff for hours! Anyway, his favorite character is Snake Eyes. So, guess what he wanted to be? Grandma did an awesome job on the costume and even made muscles which was of course his favorite part :)

Several months ago, I found some adorable glittery red shoes at Once Upon A Child for Callie. Whenever she has worn them, people have made so many comments about her "Dorothy shoes" which is where I got the idea to dress her up as Dorothy from Wizard of Oz. Of course Grandma made a more gorgeous costume than I could have imagined complete with a matching bow, socks, and pacifier clip!

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful Grandma/Mom/Mother-in-law who loves her grandkids so much! Every year the costumes fit perfectly even though she's in Colorado and cannot measure the kids herself...she has to rely on Brandon and I for that and we really have no clue what we're doing :) When the package comes every year Cameron always gets extremely excited! There are always Halloween pajamas in the package, too :) Thanks so much Grandma...YOU ARE THE BEST!!!

The Bestest Big Brother!

Cameron is a great big brother to Callie. He is always making sure that he kisses her goodnight, gives her plenty of hugs, and entertains her quite well :)

Here are a few sweet moments that I have been able to catch over the last few months. He really loves her a lot and we are so lucky for that!

Callie is 6 months!

I can hardly believe that my sweet baby girl is already 6 months old! Where does the time go?

When Callie was born she weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 21 inches long...a pretty good sized baby! She had a heart murmur, was mildly jaundiced, and dropped nearly a full pound in her first day of life. We ended up staying in the hospital for 4 days because the docs were a little concerned about our girl. We ended up having to supplement with formula (only a couple of times) until she got the nursing thing down. Her lowest weight was 7 pounds 13 ounces. The pediatrician reluctantly let us go home on Friday because it was Easter weekend, but we had to go straight from Bethesda North Hospital to Children's Hospital in Cincinnati to have an echo done on her little heart. The results from that were that she had Tricuspid Regurgitation which they were not at all concerned about. They said she'd probably outgrow it before the week was over. We had to schedule a follow up for 6 months just to make sure. On top of that, we had to make 3 separate trips to Children's Hospitals over the next few days to have her blood drawn to test her bilirubin levels. Of course our little girl was completely fine :)

By 3 weeks she was back up to over 8 pounds. Then at 5 weeks she was 10 pounds 12 ounces! What a jump! At her 2 month check up she had only gained 6 ounces and was 11 pounds 2 ounces. The doctor said that because of the big jump at her previous appointment, there was no reason for concern. Then at her 4 month check up she was only 11 pounds 4 ounces! She had only gained 2 ounces in 2 months! Then the docs became concerned. I was not worried about my girl because she is always so vibrant, alert, and happy. She fusses only when she's tired or hungry and has been sleeping through the night since shortly after birth. The doctor also did not think that there was anything wrong with her, but mentioned that slow growth can lead to problems later in life. The following weeks were crazy...I picked up on the nursing and we had to go to the doctor every week for weight checks. Then just before 5 months, the doc had me start her on solids and mix in a high calorie formula that is made for preemies. She continued to slowly creep up in weight only gaining a couple of ounces every week. She went from being in the 25th percentile to the 3rd!

Anyway, last Wednesday, Brandon took the day off of work for a day of doctor visits for Callie's 6 month check ups. We started the day off at Children's Hospital Cardiology Unit for a re-check of her heart. After spending the whole morning there, we left knowing that her heart is perfect and healthy and we were discharged from cardiology. That was a blessing! Then we had Callie's 6 month well check. She weighed in at 12 pounds 12 ounces which was a 10 ounce gain since her last weight check 2 weeks earlier. Praise God the doctor was happy with that and now we don't have to see him again for a weight check until her 9 month check up!!!

So, now that the doctor knows that she's fine (I knew all along!) here are some of the things that she's doing these days...

She's rolling ALL OVER the place! Blankets on the floor are pretty pointless now because she is off of it in 30 seconds. She's sitting up on her own for short periods, but still tips over pretty easily. She's been holding her toys and playing for a few months now and she's very good at maneuvering her pacifier into her mouth! She is a VERY happy girl! She's almost constantly smiling! She squeals a lot and is VERY loud...I'm hoping that she's developing her lungs to become a singer :) She says "Mama" and it melts my heart every time! Daddy is still trying to get her to say "Dada" with no success so far. For a while now, she will reach for me or anyone who puts their arms out to her...it's so cute! She's eating a variety of foods now. All kinds of baby cereal, about 4 different veggies and 2 or 3 different fruits. She LOVES her food! Mommy is probably going to regret it, but she still sleeps in the bassinet in our room. I am planning to move her to her crib very soon, but it's just been so nice having her right there and she sleeps so well! She's still wearing size 1 diapers and is slowing moving into 3 -6 month clothes. Her 0 - 3 month things still fit her well, but everything is for warm weather, so I've been buying 3 - 6 months to get her through the fall. Most of it is still a little big on her now. In comparison, Cameron was over 21 pounds at 6 months and was wearing 9 to 12 month clothing. I think he was in size 3 or 4 diapers. He was always at the VERY top of the charts (around 98th percentile!)

Here are some pictures of our little princess :)

Smiling for Mommy

After her bath

Sweet Dreamin'

Laughing

SOOO Cute :)

On her 6 month B-day, playing at Nana's house

All hooked up for her EKG

Waiting to see the doctor...All smiles!

At Nana's wearing her princess dress :)

I swore I'd never blog...

So, here I am. I really need to learn to stop announcing to people that I will NEVER do that! I have been eating my words a lot in the last few years. I was NEVER going to join Facebook. I was NEVER going to join Twitter. I was NEVER going to blog.

Well, I have been following some blogs recently...those of friends and acquaintances who blog about their kids mostly. I realized that this would be a great way to keep memories for myself and my kids that would last forever. Why not take advantage of technology? Let's face it...I'm NEVER going to sit down with a pencil and paper and write this stuff down! That's one NEVER that I'm sure I will stick to :)

Besides that, Brandon and I have family members all over the globe! This will give us the opportunity to share these things with everyone. So, I have given in. I have followed the crowd.

Welcome to the little peep hole into our lives. :)