A Little Finicky

It amazes me that still after 12 weeks I am learning things about my child, that perhaps I really should have already known. I have been mixing breast milk with formula for about 2 weeks now and Camden has really done a great job with it. However, there are times that he wants to spit it out and act like he doesn't want it. Every time he does this, I fret and try to think of what I ate that could have bothered his little tummy. Well today I gave him a bottle, half formula, half breast milk and he kept spitting it out. I went through the whole arsenal of what I could have done to upset him with the milk, knowing that he had a bottle just 3 hours earlier with the same breast milk. So after thinking a bit, it dawned on me that maybe it was a little too cool for him. So I warmed the bottle and tried again and don't you know he ate it like it was the best thing since sliced bread!! So, perhaps he is a little finicky, and perhaps I need to be a little more in tune to these things!!!

12 Weeks

Well as much as I have been looking forward to Camden getting older and enjoying all his little smiles and giggles, I have been dreading this marker also. Twelve weeks has been the time frame that has been lingering over my head since his birth. I have counted the weeks, not so much as his age, but more so of how many weeks until I have to go back to work. Unfortunately, this marks the end of me being a full time mommy. Monday I return to work and leave Camden home with Shane. So today, I picked a few pictures from the past 12 weeks - rather bitter sweet for me. I have loved every minute of my time with him thus far.

Camden's birth

February 2010

March 2010

April 2010

Bumbo

Today I decided to try Camden in his Bumbo to see how he does since he is holding up his head really well and because I feel like he might be getting a flat spot on the back of his head. (We don't want the Flat Head Syndrome!) He enjoyed sitting in it and spent the majority of his time just looking around and enjoying the view of things from a different angle. He looks like such a big boy in it to me!! Amazing how fast he is changing.

Camden in his Bumbo for the first time

I love this picture. It makes me smile!!

Zach and Camden checking each other out.

Catching Up

I am not sure where the time has gone since I last blogged, but apparently it blasted right by me. To catch up, we had a very subdued weekend. On Saturday, it was a stormy day here in Tuscaloosa, so Shane, Camden and I stayed in our pajamas all day long. It was nice to really do nothing but hang around the house and just be a family. Shane worked on an application for a private school he is hoping to have an interview with and Camden and I just played, ate and napped. On Sunday we went to church, out to lunch and then home to watch the Nascar race.

Camden is still doing excellent on his sleeping!! I know that we are so very fortunate and I pray this lasts!! He is still going to bed between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm and gets up between 6:00 am and 7:00 am. I must say the sleep for me has been such a welcome sight. I honestly didn't think it would be this soon that I would be able to get this much sleep!

My sweet angel sleeping.

As for his feedings, Camden has now increased his intake to 5 ounces at each meal (which is still every 3 hours) and as of today we are up to 3 of the 5 ounces being formula. Which, by the way, I purchased my first can of Nutramigen today - not a pleasant task. They have now started making the big containers of Nutramigen and they cost $32.99 each - but luckily I had a $5.00 refund check for it. I still plan on pumping as much as possible once returning to work to help keep that cost down as well as letting Camden still achieve the benefits of breast milk. I am really concerned how well I am going to do once returning to work due to all the temptations - pizza, cookies, catered food, etc. UGH!!! So many of these things have dairy and I am such a pizza junkie. I used to have a slice of pepperoni pizza two or three times a week before Camden's arrival, but since the beginning of March, I have not had any and I can hardly wait for the day that I can partake in it, as well as ice cream again!!! So, hopefully my will power will stay strong and I can avoid all temptations so that my breast milk will not be 'tainted' for Camden.

Something cute - as of yesterday Camden has seemed to have found his tongue. It is very funny watching him and listening to him. He is 'talking' a lot more now and actually giggles. I think he finds himself humorous - which cracks me up. He is so very precious!!!

Camden sticking out his tongue

11 Weeks

We have had a great week playing, rolling over and just having fun!! On Tuesday night, Shane went and played basketball with some guys from church and we tagged along so that I could walk for exercise along with some of the other mothers and their children. We had a good time, and of course, Camden was just great. I think he really does like getting out of the house - he always behaves himself. We are still working on increasing the amount of formula he gets. He still seems to be accepting of it, although he has seemed a little more gassy.


I decided last night that we were going to do our night time schedule a little bit differently. The past few weeks I have put him down to sleep after his 7:00 pm feeding and then wake him back up around midnight to give him another feeding. As the week has progressed, he has become a little harder to wake up. When I go in his room, he is sound asleep. He looks so peaceful and I hate to wake him. So I decided last night I would just let him wake up on his own for when he was ready to eat. Well, at 6:30 this morning, he finally woke up to eat. Now I had been up since around 4:00 am anxiously awaiting to hear him on the monitor. All I heard was just little peeps here and there, but never the cry for food. I can not believe that he actually slept from 8:00 pm until 6:30 am. Now I am not going to think that this will be the norm, but we will see how things go from here.

Just LOVE him!!

Sweet little feet

Baby Einstein

For Easter, Camden received a Baby Einstein video that is for 3 months and up. I have been waiting to let him watch the video until I felt like he was somewhat interested in the television and further more could actually see it! Since Shane is the avid T.V. watcher, he has been the one since Camden was a few weeks old until now to see if Camden would even show interest in the T.V. Well on Monday, he seemed a bit interested!


Today I decided we would try the video, and let me just say it was a hit! He loved it, giggling at the babies when they were on the screen and smiling the whole way through. The video is 30 minutes long and he stayed tuned in for 27 minutes. So now I guess we have something new to add to our daily routine!!

Sitting in his bouncy seat watching the video

Pleasantly watching his video

He Did It!!

I once again am a proud mom. Camden rolled over today for the first time!!! YEA!!! He actually did it three times in a row when Shane put him on his play mat for tummy time. He was holding his head up really well and over he went, again and again. It is amazing how strong he has become in just a matter of days!!

Starting on his belly . . .

Onto his side . . .

And finally on his back!!

Since Friday I have been adding Nutramigen to his feedings. Since we had such a horrible time last go around, I am giving him 75% breast milk and 25% formula. He is taking it really well and doesn't even act like he knows it is in there. I know better though because it smells nasty! Anyway, over the next few weeks I will work on getting him to full strength so when it is really time to go to formula full time we won't have any issues!

10 Weeks - 10 Pounds

Camden is 10 weeks old today and according to his past weight gain pattern, should weigh 10 pounds today! He is getting so big, comparatively speaking. He has started some new things this week, including rubbing his eyes when he is tired. My sister-in-law told me that she was thrilled when her son started rubbing his eyes because it really cued her in as to what he needed. I have found that to be so very true.

Camden rubbing his eyes

We have really been doing great on his schedule. He takes a cat nap after his first morning feeding, then a good two hour nap in his crib after his second feeding, then another cat nap or two in the afternoon. Bedtime for him is around 8:00 pm, then I wake him up between midnight and 1:00 am for a midnight feeding and then he sleeps until 6:30 or 7:00 am. It has really been nice for Shane and me also because now we have some alone time to chat or catch up on our television shows that we enjoy.

Another thing that we have started new today is we moved up on the nipple size from a one to a two when he eats from the bottle. I really had not even thought about it until Camden and I went to my friend Sarah's house and had lunch with she and her daughter, Noah Catherine. Sarah asked me if we were using a '2' yet and I told her we were not and guess I really needed too since the '1' is really for newborns. Let me just say, after he got choked just a little the first time we used it today, he has done marvelous with it and the feedings take less time!! Why didn't I think of that sooner?? Anyway, tomorrow we are planning on trying the Nutramigen. I pray he takes it okay and does not start refusing the bottle as before. If I consume foods that agree with him, he is so pleasant now, and I really do not want to mess his tummy up!

My happy little guy!

Our Family

This picture was taken at church on Easter Sunday. Unfortunately my sweet angel is sleeping, but I absolutely love that they were taking pictures at church so that we could have a family picture on Camden's first Easter.

Uh-Oh!!!

Today I spent time off and on filling out a lengthy application for a school nurse position in Texas. The reason it took so long was finding the time to get on the computer along with doing all my motherly duties! Well, around lunch time I fed Camden, burped him and then played a little with him. We were headed to his room to change his diaper, and I decided we would go and check the mail real fast and that would give him a little extra time to unload anything else he felt he needed to in his diaper. So we headed out the front door, got the mail, and when we got back to the front door we found it to be locked!! Oh my gosh!!! Apparently the real estate agent locked the bottom lock after showing our house Sunday, which we never do, thus causing us to be locked out of the house. So we headed to the backyard to see if maybe, just maybe I left the back door unlocked after letting the dogs in the house. Of course, no such luck. So here Camden and I are, both in our pajamas, and locked out. We head across the street to our neighbor's house where the woman is a stay at home mom with a 2 year old - of course, no answer. I head down the street to another house where there is a car - of course, no answer. So I see a construction guy working on a house further down the street and ask him if I could borrow his phone to call my husband and explained to him our circumstances. He had nothing to say except that I could borrow his phone. Nice. Of course Shane was in the middle of teaching, but even so I knew he would not answer the call because it was a strange phone number I was calling from. So I left a message in hopes that he would check the message sooner more so than later. We headed back to the house and luckily I had received the new edition of Parents magazine in the mail, so we sat on the back porch and read that while we waited for Shane to come save us. I have no earthly idea how long we sat out there, but then came our knight in shining armor who let us back in the house. Bless his heart, he drove halfway across town to let us in and then headed back to school to do his student teaching. Luckily it was pleasant in the shade so we didn't have to get too hot while we waited. I am thankful that things went as they did today because as a rule, I go and retrieve the mail while Camden is napping, but today decided otherwise, thank the Lord. Could you imagine the horror if I had locked myself out with Camden inside alone with the dogs??? Oh, yet another lesson learned!!!

Camden holding onto his lion

Weight Check

Today I took Camden back to the pediatrician for his two week weight check and he was wonderful - a whopping 9 lbs 14 ounces!! That is an ounce a day - yea for us!!! He is now closer to the tenth percentile which Dr. McGiffert was pleased with. While there, I discussed with her his major dislike as well as adverse reaction to the Similac Sensitive and asked her what she suggested the next formula we try is. As I expected, she recommended Nutramigen. This formula is quiet a bit more expensive than the others since it is for infants like Camden who are intolerant of cow's milk protein. I am not thrilled about that, but I can assure you I will pay whatever needed to find something that will not hurt my baby's tummy when I need to give him something other than breast milk. I guess we will give it a try later this week to see how it goes.

A Weekend of Firsts

I had decided in my little head that around the nine week marker I was going to have Camden start sleeping in his own room. Up until this time he has been sleeping in a pack-n-play at the end of our bed. I felt like I should really get this routine established before heading back to work. I initially had intended to start letting him take his naps in his room so he could adjust and then after a few days of that, let him sleep through the night in there. Well, I never made the nap adjustment until Friday, which is when I also decided he would sleep through the night in his own bed. Can I just say that he did absolutely wonderful!!!!! He took his naps in his room and also slept through the night in there. It was probably a little harder on me than him!! I also was informed by my mom on Friday that with Camden's schedule, he is considered to be sleeping through the night. I had not even thought about that since our last feeding is around 11:00 pm or 12:00 am and then he does not wake up until 6:30 or 7:00 am. Well yea for me - he has been doing that for awhile then! I guess I was thinking that through the night would be like from 8:00 pm or so until 7:00 am !?!?! Anyway, I am extremely grateful for how well he is adapting to the schedules I am attempting to implement both through out the day and at night!

Camden letting me know he was ready to get up

On Saturday we decided we were going to head out to the baseball field where Shane had coached the past two years so I could see some of the kids and their parents that we started out with a few years ago. It was a beautiful day and Camden pretty much slept through it all. After we left there, we headed to the University of Alabama campus to pick up Shane's cap and gown for graduation. This was Camden's first trip to the University and I was so grateful to see that the tulips were blooming. I have been attempting to get pictures of these tulips for the past 2 years, but have never made it there while they have been blooming. Well, luckily we timed it right this year and I got what I think is a great picture of my two favorite guys with the tulips!


Today we headed to church and Camden wore shoes for the first time!! He looked like a big boy today in his jeans and collared shirt. Our great friends, Sarah and Chandler, were having their sweet baby girl, Noah Catherine, dedicated at church. She was absolutely beautiful in her gown!! She definitely will make a great impact on this world in the future with the great parents and family she has. After church we headed to the house to straighten it up a bit, got the dogs, stopped and picked up sandwiches and headed to the Riverwalk park. We had to vacate the house because we had our first house showing today. It was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed the time outside with the WHOLE family. I must say, while walking the nice trail I was a bit saddened thinking how short our time left here is. I am more than ready to get back to Texas and closer to family, but Tuscaloosa is a nice place and we have some great friends as well as great things to do here. But I can assure you, it did not make me change my mind!

Ready for church

A sweet little someone taking a nap at the park

9 Weeks

Have I told you lately how much I just love Camden??? I swear my love grows for him daily and when he smiles . . . . it just melts my little heart. I love that he is starting to interact more, but sad to know that when I go back to work in 3 weeks, he will be so fun, and I will be missing so much of that!! But, we do what we have to do, right? The other thing I love is when he pouts/cries and sticks out his bottom lip. It is so sweet to see and makes me smile - kind of mean that I am smiling while he is crying, but it is so darned cute!! I have yet to catch it on camera, but will definitely attempt to do so and share.

Hello Everyone!!!

Today Camden grabbed his rattle and shook it. He held onto it long enough for me to get up and get my camera and take a picture.


Today I worked on my resume in order to start applying to some jobs that we have found on the internet. I am going to apply for some school nurse positions in the area we would like to live in, which would really be nice so that I could basically be on the same schedule as Shane and Camden when he starts school. If that does not work out, then I will probably go the surgery center route - which also would be nice because that usually requires no weekends. And if all else fails, back to the office atmosphere. I really am not opposed to any of these, but would really like the school nurse position - so keep that in your prayers. Shane has recently been applying to jobs in the private christian school setting. We are really unsure at this point what type of pay or benefits these jobs have to offer, but feel like we should explore all avenues. At this point, we are really just waiting for God to open the doors needed for us to make our move back to Texas.

No Worries

Today Camden and I made our way to Birmingham to see Dr. Colvin, a pediatric cardiologist at UAB. Now I was not too very concerned about this appointment since I had already had one of my co-workers perform an echocardiogram on Camden a little over a week ago. At that time, she saw a small patent foramen ovale (which is a hole that is in the heart in utero and should close upon birth). Well today he heard the 'innocent murmur' (as they like to call them) and after performing the echocardiogram, he said that everything looked great. He did not even see the PFO, so perhaps it closed in the past week!! He said that we would require no further work up for his murmur and to know that other doctors will hear the murmur, but definitely not to let them scare me because it is fine. They also weighed him today and he weighed 9 pounds 8 ounces, which is an 8 ounce weight gain in 9 days! YEA!!!!

Let me also add that my child was just perfect!!! He slept on our way to Birmingham and then was awake for the whole visit, but was so pleasant and smiled for each of the nurses and the doctor. He never made a peep and was wonderful. Then, he slept the whole way home. I am so grateful for how the day went!!!

Camden and me, taken Easter Sunday

Happy Anniversary

Three years ago today I married the man that was the answer to many of my prayers. It has been quiet a journey thus far, with us moving to Alabama a month after we said our vows, and now, of course, with the new addition to our family. I am very much looking forward to what the future has in store for us!

This evening we made our first journey with Camden to a restaurant and went to Outback Steakhouse for our anniversary dinner. Now I had already done my research regarding what I could eat there, as they are "willing" to prepare your meal dairy free if you forewarn them (this according to their website). So when we arrived I informed our waitress that I would need my meal dairy free and we found something that she felt was dairy free. Camden slept for about two-thirds of our meal, which was nice. Well, I knew my meal tasted too good to be dairy free. After we got home and I fed Camden, don't you know 45 minutes later he was having issues with his belly - so apparently they added some butter somewhere in my meal. Oh well, lesson learned.

One of our first pictures together - Easter 2006

A picture taken right after Shane proposed to me

Our wedding day, April 5, 2007

The University of Alabama - where we have spent the majority of our marriage

Our family now