Front yard fun...

Everytime we get near the door, Cameron is ready to go outside. He just LOVEs to be outside. So, this day we just lingered and I let him wander around to his hearts content.


He wanted to climb trees, so we did that. He collected rocks, picked up sticks, dumped out our cats water dish, and l00ked f0r bugs.

It was a good time. He's quite the little outdoorsman. :-)

Appreciation

My kids celebrated Veterans day recently. Austin joined other uniformed cub scouts in a flag ceremony at the school assembly. Brooke wore her patriotic red, white and blue clothes. Cameron and I stayed for the assembly to snap a few pictures and I'm so glad we did.

Veterans day is a holiday that I don't always acknowledge the way I should. I was grateful for the opportunity that the school gave me, to remember and honor the men and women who have sacrificed and those who continue to fight for our country and our freedom.

I thoroughly enjoyed the heartfelt tribute to our nations heroes. The music, the visiting soldiers and veterans, the flag ceremony were all part of a very patriotic morning. I'm thankful that my kids attend a school where their country is honored, freedom is cherished and the veterans were remembered. I know I would not have done them justice if I had tried to convey the importance of this holiday at home.

I'm proud to be an American and so glad my kids are too!

Yep, broken.

As strange as it sounds, my fragile little princess actually broke her toe sitting in a chair yesterday!

She twisted it just right and her little toe got bent backwards. I knew she was hurting, it was obvious by her screaming. I honestly thought she'd forget about it though. A bath, an ice pack, propping up on a pillow and some ibuprofen later, she wouldn't even let me touch it and definitely wouldn't walk on it.

Certainly, she just needed to rest. You know how kids can overreact when they're exhausted. I made sure she stayed in bed and got plenty of sleep last night.

I was quite surprised when she still wouldn't walk on it this morning, and cringed when we tried to examine her. She said it still hurt really bad and that she thought it was "fractured." I was skeptical of that, but decided we should have it checked anyway.

Well, it turns out she was right.

A few hours later after visiting our friendly neighborhood clinic and having some x-rays examined, it was confirmed that she indeed fractured her little toe. She called it like it was & I will not doubt her again. :-)

I'm still a little baffled, but thankful that it wasn't anything more.

She sure loved looking at her x-rays!

Look Who's two!

Cameron turned two and we were all very excited to celebrate with him!

The kids lead the way with decorating the house the night before, so Cameron could wake up to birthday festivities.

We didn't have a big party, but we certainly made him our prince for the day. He even got a nice visit from friends. I don't know that any other 2 year old boy is loved quite so much.

Austin and Brooke helped decorate the cake for Cameron with farm animals and tractors, complete with a road made of smashed graham crackers.

Cameron loved it, in many ways. :-) He liked the toys enough that he licked them clean and the cake wasn't bad either.

In fact, Mommy made a teddy bear cake in addition to the other one, so there was plenty of cake to go around! Cameron was thrilled that he was allowed to eat it his hearts content, and he certainly did that.

We got Cameron his own scooter for his birthday and he LOVES it! He hopped right on and started scooting all around the house. He rides it all over the place and lately he even likes to give his toys rides on it with him. It's very cute.

Cameron has grown up so much this past year and developed into such a funny little guy. He's a great blend of cuddly and energetic, articulate and baby-talk, sweet and sassy. It has been such a fun time to watch him grow and learn. He's a full fledged toddler now and still makes us laugh out loud every day. He's adorable and wonderful and we all love him so much.

My favorite Cameron word that has come and gone this year is:

"wowie" = shower ( now he just calls it shower, and he really loves to take them)

We really love the way he will look at us with his trademark mischievous dimpled grin and turn his eyes up, looking to the side like he's planning something wonderful. It's hilarious and precious all at once.

We love the way he cuddles, and kisses and still rubs his belly when he says please("cheese.")

We love the way he says, "watch me dive" and then points his hands in front of him before he jumps off the couch.

We love his obsession with shoes and being outdoors, petting the cat, looking at birds or examining bugs.

I love how he snuggles up to stuffed animals and says, "awwww."

I love the gleeful smile that lights up his face when he comes aross his blankie. I love watching him snuggle up with it and giggle.

I love Cameron's emerging personality, indepencnce, and sense of humor. He is wonderful and precious and I'm looking forward to many more years of being his Mama.

Happy 2nd Birthday little buddy!

As an added bonus to our lovely Colorado trip, we got to celebrate Cameron's birthday again with family. He shared a celebration with his older cousin and had a fun time being honored and smiled at by everyone as he opened his gifts. The little guinea pig shown in the picture was a big hit. He still plays with it all the time. :-)

Happy Birthday Cameron! We love you!

I'm back... I hope

A friend of mine recently said that she had taken a leave of absence from her blog. It sounded all too familiar and I realized how long it has been since I've found the time to post.

When things get so busy that I can't even get phone calls or quality time with my kids in, blogging has to take a back seat. However, since this is my way of documenting memories, it's important to me that I stay more current than I have lately. I needed to get back on the wagon. So, here I am, on the blogging wagon. :-)

It seems like I blinked and summer was gone. So, as hard as it might be, I'm going to attempt to re-cap some of the highlights in my next few posts. These will include the 4th of July, Cameron's 2nd birthday, our trip to Colorado and visit with family there, Austin's 9th birthday, the beginning of school. . . see how fast it goes??

We had a lot of nice family time this summer. We played, we swam, we ate yogurt a few times :-) and we enjoyed the break from the schedule. Now we're back in the swing of things and fall is upon us. We're excited for this fabulous time of year and all that comes with it.

Here's to crisp mornings and playing outside on cool afternoons, scarecrows, changing leaves, pumpkin carving and trick or treating. Here's to fall! We love fall!

So sweeet!

This morning John and I were laying in bed, 1/2 awake, waiting for the snooze on our alarm clock to go off again when we heard Brooke coughing. She has been getting over a bit of a cough this week and was having a coughing spell in her bed. We could hear her from our room down stairs and John had just commented to me that he felt bad for her.

Then we heard something else that immediately brought smiles to our faces. We heard Cameron, on the baby monitor. From his room down the hall from hers, he heard his sister coughing too and it must have woken him up.

He didn't cry though.

He just said, in his barely mature enough to pronounce words, sweet little concerned voice . . .

"sissy ?. . . sissy?" pause . . . "o-tay ??" (in an obvious question form.)

Then more of the same . . .

"sissy? awww, sissy. o-tay?" . . . "oh sissy, otay baby?"

Then he repeated his concerns for her until Daddy went upstairs to get him. Of course he wanted to go straight in to see his sissy for a snuggle. :-)

It was soooooo very sweet to hear him that John and I both woke right up and asked each other if we had heard it correctly. I guess if our toddler who can barely even put words together is showing such sweet compassion for his sister, we're doing something right around here. It was a happy parenting moment. I'm so glad they love each other!

Big girl sleep over...

We haven't done sleep overs in the past and don't plan to much in the future, but this was a special event with all the girls in Brooke's kindergarten class. Plus, Mom was a chaperon, so that made it fun for the whole family!

Brooke was THRILLED to be a part of her first big girl sleepover, and I was thrilled to be there with her. :-) We had snacks, watched movies, played games, read books, made pancakes, etc. The fun and giggling went well into the night and resumed first at first light (maybe earlier.)

She made some great memories with her friends.

Austin had a buddy to hang out with, and they had a great time playing lots of Wii and DS. Cameron was in heaven with all those little girls to "Mommy" him. I enjoyed the company of a good friend and gracious host. It was a win-win for all of us. And yes, we all stayed the night. (John was out of town.) It was lots of fun! Even big girls like to have sleep overs now and then. :-)

Field trip!

Cameron and I had lots of fun joining Brooke on her final kindergarten field trips this past week. We had a fun time at the Wildflower Center and an even better time at the zoo. Most of all, it was just nice to hang out with my kids. They had lots of fun hanging out with each other too. Those too are buddies, for sure!

What a week.

Man, it's been a long week. Time usually flies for me, but this past week was a long week. Not trying to be a whiner, it was just tiring. We were blessed with lots of love from friends though, and are so grateful for the food, balloons, cards, treats and other surprises that showed up on our doorstep, or in our mailbox. They truly made a rough week, so much better. Our family is so blessed to be loved by such wonderful people.

Brooke is actually recovering now and we have the pain med side effects under control. Whew! There were some worrisome days, so glad they've past. Cameron is almost over his nasty flu bug and will probably sleep through the night tonight. (here's hoping) After sleeping most of the weekend, John has almost kicked his flu and is back to being his helpful self again. It's just in time, since I'm coming down with a cold now and starting to feel rather worn down. Austin somehow stayed healthy amidst our germ haven and returned to school today. We are beginning to settle back into normal life around here.

Just when I was really feeling like life was wearing me down this past week, Easter came around. I love Easter. Easter was the perfect reminder of how blessed we are and what a wonderful life this is that we have been given. I love rejoicing in the Resurrection of our Savior. I love the hope and peace that I am blessed with, because of His atonement and resurrection. I love the celebration of new beginnings that accompanies the atonement. HE LIVES! He is always there for me. He will always help me through the struggles I face. He Loves me, no matter what. Celebrating that Love and hope was just what I needed this weekend and I'm so grateful for it.

We are beginning to settles back into normal life around here, and what a wonderful life it is.

Home at last

Leaving Mom and Dad, with our friend the anesthesiologist, and her little stuffed dog, pre-surgery.

Brooke is finally home and feeling much better. She was wonderful for her surgery, it went well and she was very brave, no tears at all going in. (Thanks to our friend Dr. Williams for the great piggy back ride to the o.r. at separation time!) her surgery was all done by noon on Thursday. Our surgeon/ENT came in and told us that it was good that we did the surgery, as her tonsils and adenoids were very enlarged, specifically the adenoid was huge. Let's hope that means much improved breathing for Brookie.

The challenges came after the surgery. She had an unexpected stay in the hospital after having trouble recovering from the anesthesia. She spent most of Thursday at the hospital throwing up anything & everything that we tried to give her. (water, Gatorade, juice, sprite, popsicles, soup, pain medicine...) After many hours of throwing up and not keeping her pain medicine down, the doctors admitted her to the hospital overnight. They needed to keep her on an IV so she didn't get dehydrated since she wasn't keeping any liquids down. We also needed to have the nausea under control before we could bring her home.

They switched up her pain medicine and tried several different drugs for anti-nausea. The 4th one finally worked. They gave that to her (via IV) about 11:00 Thursday night and it must have done the trick because the throwing up stopped and she finally kept her pain meds down during the night. She woke up much more like herself Friday morning and was able to eat and keep down some breakfast and liquids.

We got home yesterday afternoon and she has been resting pretty comfortably, on the road to recovery. The pain medicine seems to work well and she only hurts when it's about time for another dose. It has a few side effects which are sleepiness, intermittent nausea and itchiness. Other than that, we can't complain. And Brookie sure doesn't either. She has been such a good sport about everything. We woke her up twice during the night to give her some yucky tasting medicine and she just took it without a complaint. She's such a good girl and I'm so glad she'll be feeling much better soon.

We appreciate the help, love and support from so many friends and family. Thanks for caring about our little princess!

Surgery worries

I can't even count all of the times I have heard people talk about getting their tonsils out. It's really common. People do it all the time. I have never thought of it as a big deal.

But this week, my little Brookie is going in to get hers taken out and it's a completely different story.

My sweet little girl is going to a big hospital where she will be taken away from me into an operating room. She'll be put under general anesthesia and a surgeon is going to work on her. Sure, it's a common procedure and kids have it done all the time. Several of our friends have had it done. Several other kids will have it done that same day, actually. Many other children are dealing with much more serious surgeries and illnesses, I know that. But this is my baby girl and I am starting to get very apprehensive about Thursday.

There's a fine line we walk as parents between complete honesty and protecting them from the truth. I am walking that line this week. I guess I'm doing an OK job, because Brooke hasn't shown any signs of being nervous. She's actually excited about going to the children's hospital. She's counting down the days. She's been writing about it at school and telling her friends. She believes me when I tell her it'll all be fine, because it will.

Does it not matter that she will be in A LOT of pain before it's fine?

Of course she should not know that she will be completely miserably in pain for days after the surgery. I wouldn't even think of telling her that. She doesn't need to know that. Yet, I know it and it makes me so worried about her. I feel horrible that I am sending her in to have this pain inflicted upon her, knowingly. I avoided this for so long. I kept hoping the problems would just go away so we wouldn't have to cross this bridge. But here we are at the bridge and I have to hold my little girls hand and lead her across, even though it's hard.

It is so hard for me to fight the motherly instinct to protect her. I don't want anyone to do anything to hurt her. I don't want to have her in pain. All I have ever wanted was to take the pain away from my kids. I know it will be short lived. I know it will yield good results. I realize that we are being good parents for addressing her health issues and correcting them. I know all of these things and the rational adult in me will lead her calmly across the bridge and help her along the path as she recovers.

But inside of me, the sensitive, concerned, compassionate, mommy is having a tough time being OK with it. It may sound silly to some. She's just getting her tonsils out right? (tonsils and adenoids, actually.)

It's always so different when it's your own child and I'm pretty worried about mine this week, so send some good thoughts this direction and a prayer for Brookie on Thursday if you get a chance. It would mean a lot to her mom.

They can't all be framers...

We have to take so many pictures to get just the right ones. You know, the ones where everyone is looking and sitting still and smiling sweetly. We try so hard to get the perfect light and have everything in focus, yada, yada, yada. We all love those great shots that come along now and then. You know what I mean.

Well, These pictures aren't those.

These are far from being perfect shots but they sure look they were having fun!



I like the "perfect" shots that we catch now and then. They are great.

I'm really glad we have lots of these kind of pictures too, because this is what it was really like, most of the time!

Growing so fast

My baby can't be 18 months! Where did the time go? Cameron has really matured recently and is quite a little boy now. I have to do double takes all the time, because he seems to be more grown up every time I look at him. Not a day goes by that he doesn't crack me up. He has such a silly, fun personality. He is talking up a storm and says new words every day. My favorite word this week is, "YAY!" He has gone from just clapping his hands about things to gleefully shouting, "Yay!" when something makes him happy. It's very cute. This evening, I was getting him ready for bed and I asked him if he wanted to take a bath. He jumped up, clapped his hands and said, "Yay!" Then he grabbed my shirt and proceeded to lead me along to the bathroom. There he clapped and cheered while I got the bath ready for him. It's just one very cute example of why "yay!" is my favorite word this week.

Cameron loves lots of things. He loves to eat and still does the sign, which is so cute, especially since I know it will probably fade away soon, as "more" has, since he's learned to say the word. He loves to eat and will usually cheer "yay" when I get him something he loves.

Cameron loves balls. He loves to bounce them, throw them, roll them, toss them and kick them. Most of all though, he loves to stand at the top of the stairs and drop them down through the railing. This got to be such a favorite pastime of his, that I moved the basket of balls from the play room downstairs. Now they aren't so easily accessible to throw down consecutively. It's a cute game, but rather messy and sometimes dangerous. Yikes, watch out for flying balls!

Cameron loves his blankie!! I think it's safe to say that he rivals Austin with his adoration of the special blankie. Austin was a blankie baby, and Cameron has followed suit. He will lay on his blanket in the middle of the living room floor, or hug it in the car and he loves to caress it. He will rub his hand softly across the surface and smile at me. He just loves to snuggle his blankie and we almost always have more than one with us, because we have several to spare. Thank goodness! Recently, Cameron has started to say, "night, night" when he snuggles his blankie. We aren't sure if he's starting to call it that, or if he's just making the connection about snuggling with his blanket at bed time. Either way, it's very cute and I can't help but pick him up and join in the snuggling!

Cameron is a happy boy and likes lots of things. He LOVES certain things though and the top o the list is being outside. He will run for the door, front or back, at every opportunity. He absolutely loves being outside. He likes to pickup sticks and rocks and he loves to call our cat, Oreo. It's very cute to hear him say it. It sounds more like, "oowoh" but it's obvious that he knows the cat and loves him. He is very fond of petting him and is very gentle. Oreo doesn't run from him, so I guess he's doing something right. :-) Cameron loves to play in the back yard and here are a few shots of him having fun a few days ago.

Love in the air. . .

We had a LOVELY Valentine's day this year!

We were feeling quite festive for Valentine's day, partly because the kids were sooo looking forward to it. To them, a holiday is a holiday and they like any excuse to celebrate! we had fun all week decorating boxes and making valentine cards for their school parties, which we attended on Friday. It's always fun to be in their classes and celebrate with the kids.

John and I enjoyed a nice couples night out at a delicious new steak house on Friday night and then we spent Saturday with the kids. We had a nice time on our date. It was great to get out and enjoy some adult company and spend some quality time with my husband.

Saturday was a nice day too! It was like we got to celebrate twice, since we'd already gone out! Of course, John got me some beautiful flowers, delicious breakfast, and made a beautiful home made, heartfelt card for me with pictures of our wedding on it. It was very sweet and I love it. We also exchanged a few little gifts and enjoyed cards that the kids had made or chosen for everyone. It was cute that they were so excited. They enjoyed making chocolate covered strawberries and I enjoyed eating them! It was a fun day and we really enjoyed our time together as a family.

We had planned to go out as a family to see a musical at our local high school, but Brooke came down with an ear infection, so we got her some medicine, hung out at home and took it easy. It was just what we needed and we all enjoyed relaxing

And so it begins . . .

I figured it was about time I got a blog going. I have certainly enjoyed so many other blogs of family and friends. In this busy, busy world, it's a great way to keep in touch. So, I'm joining the band wagon!

This week marks a milestone as far as I'm concerned. Brooke graduates from pre-school. . . can that really be? It feels so impossible to me, even more so than when Austin started kindergarten. I can't believe how quick they grow up.(in age, not necessarily size in this case. :-) Sometimes I wish I could just freeze time and hold onto them a little bit longer. Brooke is so excited though, about her graduation and about kindergarten. Considering how she felt about school a year ago, that is great news!

Austin is finishing 1st grade in a couple of weeks. He is doing fabulous. I am often baffled by the rave reviews I get from his teacher. Is that the same boy that hangs out with us at home??? Seriously though, he is such a good boy that always tries hard to make good choices. He is a bright one too! Austin recently tested into the "Discovery" program in our school district. He passed the 5th grade level reading comprehension test, and was excited to tell me about "how easy it was". He's really humble . . . well, not really, but at least he's confident! He cracks us up. Today was Austin's first swim meet of the 2008 summer season. He was very excited about that and did a great job. He won 1st place in his heat for backstroke and was thrilled to bring home that ribbon. He enjoys swim team quite a bit, it seems to be his sport of choice. Which is great!

We were fortunate enough to have Rob and Shannon at the swim meet today. It was great to spend a little time hanging with them and fabulous to have them there to cheer Austin on, especially since John was out of town. As an added bonus for Brooke, she got to ride around on uncle Rob's shoulders a good portion of the morning, which she loved. (sorry if you have a sore neck Rob!) She adores him! But hey, what's not to love?

With Brooke playing with Rob & Shannon, my hands were free to hold onto Cameron and help Austin, which was very helpful. Cameron is at a fun, fun stage, but also a difficult one. He is crawling, so he loves to be down on the ground exploring. That isn't such a great thing to do outside, in the grass and dirt, since he needs to know what EVERYTHING tastes like! If he can fit it in his mouth, he'll eat it, so we have to watch him carefully. He is so happy and funny though. We all just love him to pieces. He's such a part of this family, whatever did we do without him??