Cousin Time

Last night Kelsey, Shanelle and Gavin stayed the night at our house before heading to a doctor's appointment downtown for Gavin today. We were glad to have them over and spend some time with them since they had not been to our new home. Camden loved spending time with Gavin and enjoyed playing together with him in the play room.

Camden looks like he is not sure if he wanted Gavin playing with his football

Camden talking to Gavin through the window

Camden and Gavin riding in the truck together

The boys enjoying ice cold apple juice after lots of playing

They thought they were so funny!

Informative Little Pieces of Paper

Everyday upon leaving Camden's school, we get a piece of paper that gives us as parents a synopsis of the day. It informs us about each diaper change, how much he ate, how long his nap was as well as a place for his teachers to right a note about the day if they so feel inclined. I love these little informative pieces of paper because sometimes the comments on them just make my little heart smile!

On Monday, his paper said "Camden can almost say everyone in the class' name." On Tuesday, he had a great time dancing with Olivia (one of his classmates). On Wednesday he had a super day, and then on Thursday my little heart quit smiling!!! Why, may you ask??? Because we received the ever so dreaded Accident/Incident Report attached to his note informing us that my sweet little angel bit a friend while playing on the slide. Apparently, once again he was not doing it out of meanness he just reached down and bit his friend, and apparently this time left a bruise!!!!! My heart even cried a little for his friend as well as the momma of his friend. It is not easy being a biter's mother. But on a positive note, we have noticed way less biting at home,so hopefully that will carry over to school!

Along with the bad report, Thursday's note said "Camden wasn't sure about hand art today." That made me laugh. Ms. Caroline said that they couldn't get the paint off of his hands fast enough! Welcome to my world. As we are eating we always have to keep a wet wash cloth handy to wipe his hands off when he gets any food on them. My little neat freak (for now anyway). Luckily, Camden redeemed himself on Friday. His note read, "Camden loves circle time. He put his hand over his heart during the pledge." Ms. Caroline said it is the sweetest thing. She knows he doesn't know what he is doing but said she will peek over at him during the pledge and he is standing there with his hand over his heart. Love him!!!!

Just a side note since I like to document EVERYTHING, Hand Foot and Mouth disease was going around Camden's class and of course he got it. We noticed the blisters starting in his diaper area Tuesday night and by Wednesday afternoon when I picked up him from school he had blisters on his hands, feet and knees. I am not sure he ever had blisters in his mouth or fever (which is usually the beginning) but let me say I am grateful that even if he did, he still ate and was pleasant!!!

Bubbles and Other Things

This week has been a bit hectic starting back to school and getting ready for the students to arrive next week. With that being said, I just have a few random pictures and stories to share.

When picking up Camden from school earlier this week I was told they had played with bubbles and that Camden loved popping them. Shane went out the next day and bought him bubbles so he could have fun playing with them here at home. He definitely finds them entertaining!

When we get home from being out and about, the first thing we do is let Zack out of his kennel. On this particular day, Camden decided he was going to get in Zach's cage after we let him out. I wasn't fast enough to get the picture of him sitting in the cage, but I did catch him on the way out.

Camden finds it very fun to lay on Zach's bed. He doesn't care if Zach is in his bed or not, he just likes to lay there. Since he is still trying to get into the school routine, he is a bit tired when he arrives home and on this day he decided to just lay on Zach's bed and rest a bit.

Camden's teacher posted some more pictures from this week on the internet. I found it very humorous that in all the other pictures, the kiddos are sleeping. As you can tell from this picture, mine is wide awake!!!

First Day of School

After having a wonderful summer and getting to spend time with Shane and Camden, it was time for us all to head back to school today. Once our 'normal' schedule kicks in, I will be dropping Camden off at daycare since Shane has to be at work at 7:00 am. But today, Shane took Camden to school, which for all of us was probably a good thing. Camden seems to do better when it is just Shane dropping him off at the nursery at church, and again it proved to be the same today. Shane said Camden acted scared and unsure, but did not cry when he dropped him off.

Look at that pitiful face!

Luckily this year Camden's classroom has a website that they will periodically post pictures on. Here is one from today that proved he settled in very nicely!

'Cheese'

By 4:00 pm when I picked Camden up, he was sitting on a miniature couch reading books and having a good time. He was thrilled to see me and blew kisses to everyone upon his departure. Ms. Caroline said he had a great day and had fun popping bubbles!

Meet the Teacher

Today was Meet the Teacher at Camden's school. At his school, along with meeting the teacher, this is an opportunity to bring all your supplies prior to the first day of school to help avoid extra chaos on the first day. A new thing for Camden will be taking his nap on a cot versus in a crib. At the school's suggestion, I ordered a nap mat for his cot. Since he is not used to having a pillow or blanket, I thought we might need to practice today before taking it to school. He of course loved it and was so excited to lay on it.

Since he is walking, Camden gets to move up to the toddler room, which we are excited about. When we arrived, we saw a very familiar face in his room - Ms. Caroline!!!! She moved out of the infant room into the toddler room and we could not be any more happy about that! Camden is Ms. Caroline's boy and let me tell you, it makes a momma feel so good to know that someone is with your child everyday who loves him so much! Like I said we are excited and know that it is going to be a good year!

Mrs. Caroline and Camden (from last year)

18 Month Appointment

I knew my baby was growing, but after his measurements were taken at his 18 month appointment today, it was apparent all his good eating is paying off. I had to work today, so Shane took him for his appointment. He weighed 24 pounds 15 ounces, which is an increase of 3 pounds exactly from his 15 month visit, and now he is in the 36th percentile for weight. He was 34 inches long, which was a 2 1/2 inch increase from his last visit, and that puts him in the 90th percentile for height. He may have tried to stay small his first year, but his second year he is taking off and his momma couldn't be any prouder. However, I will say that my baby boy is growing entirely too fast. I can't believe how he changes daily, be it with new words or new things he does. This week he started getting off of the couch by himself, and has been able to get on the couch by himself 3 times!

Shane did ask the doctor about the issue of his left foot pronating in since we are going for an orthotics visit on Tuesday, and he felt that he could possibly use some type of support in his shoe but does not see the need for us to do anything with an orthopedist until he is two or so and we do not see improvement. I have faith that with time this issue will resolve itself, so for the time being I am not fretting over that issue! Also, the doctor asked Shane about the medicine that Camden takes for his reflux and Shane told him we were considering weening him off of it to see how he does. The doctor said that basically he has already weened himself off since we have not increased the dosage since it was started, so basically we can just quit giving it to him. Yea!!

Something else exciting that has been going on, but I have been afraid to post for fear it would not last, is he has been off of his Miralax for exactly 2 weeks today and has been pooping like a champ!!! No constipation and no problems. It is so exciting!!! See what I mean about my baby growing up?

20 Year Class Reunion

As much as I hate to admit it, and honestly can't believe it, I attended my 20 year class reunion this past weekend. I will tell you, I struggled trying to decide if I would actually attend the festivities or not and did not even commit to going until this past Tuesday. I am not sure what my reservations were, except for the fact that I figured it would still be very clickish and I had no idea as to what I would wear, since the dress was casual attire. Well, I am happy to say that I am glad we decided to go so that I could catch up with some of my old and dear friends!

The reunion festivities started Saturday afternoon at Spinnin' Wheels Roller Rink. Ahh, that place brings back some memories! It was the family get together and it was great seeing everyone there. It was definitely a more relaxed atmosphere at the skating rink, and I honestly enjoyed that more than the evening festivities. It is amazing seeing people my age with teenagers! I know we were late having Camden, but boy it definitely slaps you in the face when you see some of your classmates with middle school and teenage kids. Oh well, I wouldn't change a thing! Camden enjoyed dancing and singing to the music that was playing. He danced under the lights on this little dance floor they have for well over an hour! He is so funny.

Camden, me, and my best friend in middle school, Jeannie

Erica, Joy, Me, Jeannie and Jodi

Later that evening, several of my high school girl friends met up at Erica's parents house. I definitely felt better about meeting up with them prior to heading to the Country Club.

Me, Erica, Amy and Kizmi

We then all made our way to the Country Club where we had a dinner and dancing (if you so chose to do-which I did not). I enjoyed visiting with my old classmates, but I must say, several of them have not changed a bit (and that is not in a good way). Even at our twenty year reunion, people are trying to impress others and apparently have not realized that they are almost 40 years old. I did, however, get to catch up with some of my friends that I went to school with for almost half of my life. It was so great catching up and seeing what each of them have become as well as hearing how their families are doing. Luckily, Shane went to school with one of my friend's husbands, so they were able to sit and catch up and entertain one another while we visited with our friends.

Some of the girls

Me and Jeannie - love her!!!

Me, Chrissy, Earl and Alicia
My friends from Presbyterian Day School - we have known each other a LONG time!

My great date!

Tooth # 13, 14 and 15

As I was helping Camden brush his teeth tonight, I decided it was time to do a tooth count. I cautiously attempted to see if I could feel any new teeth. Much to my surprise, not only did I find one new tooth, but two! They feel like they just broke through his gums. Tooth #14 is on the top left side, and tooth #15 is on the bottom right side. Finally, he got another on his right side! So as I was counting all of them, it dawned on me that I totally missed reporting the arrival of tooth #13 which was his bottom right molar. It arrived mid to late July. I believe one will be popping through on the top right side in no time! He definitely is getting a mouth full of teeth!

Tooth #14 on the top right side

Sprinkler Fun

Since we are in a horrible drought and hardly ever see rain, I am constantly watering our yard. When we moved in, the grass was completely dead and brown. With diligent watering, we are finally getting a nice green front yard. Tonight, as I headed out to turn on the sprinkler, Camden wanted to go 'outside.' As I was setting the sprinkler set up he was steadily saying 'wawa' ready for me to turn on the water. After turning it on, you can see what fun he had.




I absolutely love those spur of the moment times when you can just let your child be a kid and have fun!

The University of Alabama vs. The University of Texas

As you could imagine, Shane has been trying to ingrain the University of Alabama into Camden's head. Since moving into our home Shane has been able to put out some of his UA memorabilia. Along with that came teaching Camden how to say Roll Tide. Now he can say 'Roll' and he can say 'Tide', but when he puts it together, it is "Ride!" with a right handed fist pump. Anytime he sees the University of Alabama 'A' or the elephant mascot, he yells out "Ride!" Well, the minute I noticed that his daddy had taught him 'Roll Tide' I knew I had to start working on 'Hook 'Em Horns'. So I have worked on getting his fingers in the appropriate longhorn position along with teaching him 'Hook 'Em Horns.' He gets the gist, however, when he attempts to say 'Hook 'Em Horns' and do the appropriate gesture, he is only able to point his pointer finger and the words that come out of his mouth are 'Du Doo!' You could only imagine the delight that my husband takes in this!!! Shane actually belly laughs when Camden says 'Du Doo!' I can assure, I will continue to work on getting the appropriate words out of his mouth. Perhaps as he is walking into the house and stepping on the University of Alabama door mat, instead of looking at it and yelling 'Ride!' he instead can say 'Du Doo!'

Batter Up

Since Camden has been old enough to hold a ball and bat, his daddy has been working with him on throwing and hitting. We have every size and shaped ball you could imagine as well as a soccer goal and basketball goal in our playroom. Camden loves balls and when kicking his ball in the soccer goal or making a basket, he excitedly exclaims, "Goal!" with his hands held straight up. When hitting a baseball (or mimicking hitting a baseball) he yells out, "Boom!" He has been holding his little bat for quiet sometime, but would only hit the ball with one hand holding on to the bat. Today, he finally started holding the bat with two hands. Can I tell you how happy this makes his Daddy?

BOOM!

And All is Well in Our World

It has been a long year for our little family. As we waited for our house to sell in Alabama, we moved to Tomball and stayed with my sister and her family. Luckily, I easily found a job before we moved, however Shane struggled finding a teaching/coaching position. After much hesitation, he accepted a paraprofessional position at the same school I was employed at. For any of you that know Shane, elementary was not at all where he had anticipated enjoying his career. As a matter of fact, if you would have even mentioned teaching young kids to him a year and a half ago, he would have laughed in your face. Well, I am not sure what happened, but apparently the children in the Title I school we were employed pulled at his little heart strings and he felt like that is where he was truly supposed to be. He received his certification in elementary education with hopes of finding a job. Along with his paraprofessional job, he refereed soccer on the weekends and taught baseball private lessons during the week. Over this past year he has looked weekly, if not daily for a teaching position. With the cuts in education and the down ward spiral of the economy, we have been holding our breath wondering if he would find a job. After months of wondering if we were doing what God had planned for us, our house finally sold in May and we bought and moved into our home in June. All that was left for us was for Shane to find a teaching position. Well, I am pleased to say that Shane was offered and accepted a teaching position in Spring ISD as a third grade math and science teacher. He is really excited about the job and is hoping he can make an impact in his student's lives. It has been a long year, but I can finally say that all is well in our world!

Some of the school supplies Shane bought to prepare for his new job