Dad's Last Day of Summer

      Friday was Chris' last day of summer. :( I am in denial big time that summer is coming to an end, but Chris just takes it in stride. (I don't know how he does it...I'm sure I will spend the entire last day complaining!)  We decided to spend his last day off at the zoo.  Although it was H-O-T! Chris, Camryn, his sister Maggie and I ventured over the river to see the animals.  Most of them were seeking shade and shelter somewhere, but a few of them came out for us to see. :)  Even though I usually hate the heat, it was really nice spending the day with people I love! :)

The giraffe...they mostly stayed inside, but were peering over the gates lookint at you :)

The camel...keeping cool :)

C doing what she does best...eating :)

Watching the penguins...she loves those silly animals! :)

the elephant...getting a drink

A trip to Aunt Bug's House

     This week we were very lucky and had the opportunity to visit Chris' Aunt Bug and family. :) There are so many cool things about Aunt Bug's house like..

the lake...she loves moving in the sand!

the slide...we loved trying to walk up it, rather than going down :)

the goats...love the way she is reaching for them :)

Aunt Bug and the goats! :)

She just loved them!

riding goats!

Xavier....she loved playing with him!! :)

Uncle Richard...he was the one who actually took her inside the goat's pen :)

     One of the reasons I love summer is it allows Chris and I to slow down some and spend more time not only with one another or our family of three, but also with our extended family.  This day was just an example of what I wish we could do more often, but life just gets busy. :(  Thank you Aunt Bug, Uncle Richard, Xav and Katie for such a great day together! Love you guys!

Interesting...

As I was deleting e-mails from my ever-growing inbox for my hotmail account (I primarily use this e-mail address anytime anyone or any company requests it, thus resulting in TONS of junk mail) I came across this tidbit of information generated from a website that sends me weekly posts on what I may see from Camryn at her particular age:

• seemingly odd behaviors might start around now, like hand banging or hair pulling.  No one knows what causes them, though some researchers theorize that they're a reaction to the stress of all that they are learning.

In the last few weeks Camryn has started pulling (what I would consider to be pretty hard) on the thicker hair she has on the back of her head.  She typically does it when she is overly tired, which if the above statement is true completely makes sense!  It was so ironic that I discovered this information tonight, because when I saw her do it yesterday I just couldn't get over how odd it was that she had started that terrible habit.  Who knew she may just be stressed! :)

Only 1 more....

     month until we celebrate Camryn Marie's first birthday!!!  I have found myself saying. "can't believe this time last year she wasn't even here yet" more and more these days.  The realization that my baby will be a year old soon almost takes my breath away...she is the greatest blessing we could ever ask for!  At 11 months she is doing some amazing things, such as...

• GrOwInG....Camryn weighs 23 pounds, 12 ounces and is approximately 30 inches tall
• wearing size 12 months in clothes and size 3/4 in shoes, depending on the shoe
• wearing a size 3 diaper
• moving...this kid is everywhere!  She isn't officially walking yet, but takes 3-4 steps on her own each day.  She tends to hold herself back if she knows she is left to try on her own, however if she manuevers around objects or the dogs she will take steps without even thinking about it.  She definitely prefers to crawl right now, because it is much faster!
• step climbing....oh how mom and dad love when Camryn finds steps! :)  She can go up an entire set of steps on her own (we found this out at Kaidyn's birthday party Sunday), but doesn't understand you can't just crawl right back down.  Mom and dad have to be quick to grab her and walk back down the steps so she doesn't fall.  I want to remember at this age we are all about steps...in the pool, in a house, at a restaurant...they're pretty much the best thing ever in Cammie's eyes! :)
• balancing..she can stand on her own and hold her cup of milk at the same time!
• learning to sign more!  Mom and dad have been working on this for a little while now and so are so excited that she can and does do it (most of the time...she is still our stubborn stinker and will refuse to do it sometimes)!  Aunt C was actually the first person to notice! :)
• imitating...I made an entire post about this a few days ago, however she continues to do more and more each day...yesterday she started "roaring" like her walk behind dinosaur at Nana's house.  When Camryn pushes a button on the dinosaur it sings. talks and roars.  Camryn will push the button over and over to hear the roar sound and then do her own version of the roar...so stinkin' cute!
• Chris has also taught Camryn to say, "ahhh" after she takes a drink.  So funny when she does it! :)
• movng from formula to whole milk...Camryn was on soy formula since the day before we brought her home from the hospital.  As she began eating solid foods her doctor advised us to try milk based products before we made the switch to whole milk, to ensure her digestive system could handle it.  Although she is not a fan of yogurt or cottage cheese, most dairy products haven't seemed to bother her.  When we took her to the doctor for her second ear infection right before vacation, they suggested I try introducing her to whole milk in small doses to make the switch easier.  Camryn drank the milk no problem and I was afraid to swtich her back and forth between whole milk and formula, so we stuck with it.  I never envisioned the switch would be so easy!
• drinking only 1 bottle a day (most of the time)...other than her morning bottle Camryn primarily drinks from a sippy cup most of the day.  We have been working on giving her milk at dinner or a little earlier than normal to help ease the frustration for her of no bottle at night.  Unfortunately, this is taking a little bit of discipline and learning on mom and dad's part, so 2 nights in the last week she has had a bottle, but we are definitely figuring things out now!
• continuing to add favorite solid foods to her list such as marshmallows, fruity Cheerios, pizza, chicken nuggets and green beans
• playing independently...not for long, but she will crawl to an area and play with toys on her own at times, without being upset that you are not right beside her.  So neat to see her actually "playing" with toys.  She is fascinated with taking objects out of something and then putting them back inside.  She is so proud of herself when she puts things away...love seeing that she claps for herself and her face light up when you say, "yay!"
• A few of her favorite toys right now are: her Weebles figures and bus, rings that you stack and take off the cone, her animal train, the light and sound table, her walking toys and the rubber coasters from the coffee table..go figure :)
• playing peek-a-boo...loves to play with anyone at any time!
• continuing to love being outside...she will go to the door and cry to go outside, especially if someone goes out and doesn't take her
• loving aninals...she absolutely loves all animals...dogs, cats, goats (I'm sure the list could go on, but those are the only ones she has been around)
• embracing the Y and church daycare finally...I thought those ladies at the Y daycare were going to tell me one day I wasn't able to bring her back, because she just cried and was very unhappy to be there each morning.  (I think Camryn had a hard time at the beginning of summer leaving mom's side again...she is definitely getting better and hopefully understands mom will always come back to get her!)
• continuing to be the center of our universe...we love her more than anything! :)

Happy 11 month birthday baby...we love you! :)





MESS!

     As I was cleaning Camryn's room and putting her clothes I bought at the outlets in her tub for next year (I typically buy most of C's clothes in advance...anytime I find a great sale I certainly don't pass it up :) someone wanted to "help."  I walked across the hall to move a load of laundry around and came back to this...

Cammie taking all of the clothes out of the tub, which lead to....



this disaster!!!
(In her defense I made the mess behind the large tub, but she made the mess all around it..sheesh!)



Vacation...(the second part)

     As I said in the previous vacation post Chris, Camryn and I had the opportunity to spend a little vacation time with both my parents and his.  Mom, dad, Walt (as we call my brother Nick), Chrissie and Nick left Myrtle Beach Saturday, while Chris, Camryn and I headed a different direction towards Harbor Island to meet Mike, Christie, Ryan, Nate and Maggie.  It's kinda crazy how vacations to similar environments can be completely different.  Myrtle Beach is busy, while Harbor Island is the exact opposite.  When we go to Harbor Island it's pretty isolated.  You definitely don't battle traffic, crowds or the hustle and bustle of a touristy place.  When we visit Harbor Island Chris gets the opportunity to fish in the ocean with his family, while I usually take advantage of the quiet to read.  During the four days we stayed, I finished The Help on my Kindle. (AWESOME book btw..thanks Chrissie for giving me the recommendation!) These days finishing a book has become quite a task for me, so I was ecstactic to have that opportunity! We had a great time altogether, although I wasn't as great with the picture-taking :(  Here are a few pictures of our second vacation :)

Playing in the water...she was apprehensive of the water at first, but liked it in the end :)

walking with grandma

C and her dad...loving life :)

out in the water...

dad's pancakes for breakfast...C and I LOVE them! :)

Uncle Ryan and C

Riding in the golf cart...C loved the golf cart!

"look dad I'm driving!" :)

Nate and Ryan getting crabs out of the crab trap, while Chris and C watched

Nate and C :)

Hi mom!

Loved playing with the stroller on the beach!

Sleeping on the beach again :) 

Queen of the sand!



Vacation (Round 1)

     Chris, Camryn and I just returned from a week and a half at the beach and it was WONDERFUL!  To say we had fun in the sun is an understatement! We are so blessed to have had the opportunity to travel with both of our parents on their separate vacations.  First, we went to Myrtle Beach during July 4th week with my mom, dad,  brother, Chrissie and Nick.  Our family has vacationed there for the past four years so we loved introducing Nick, Chrissie and Cammie to one of our favorite places away from home! We had so much fun together!!!  The 4 boys golfed three of our six days there, while the girls took advantage of Fouth of July sales at the outlet malls.  We also headed to the beach and introduced C to the sand and ocean for the first time.  She loved the sand, but was very weary of the ocean waves.  Cammie loved the giant submarine at the kiddie pool, in addition to taking naps poolside or under the tent on the beach.  With our toes in the water, butts in the sand, life was definitely great for a week! :)

Warning:  Picture overload...it was just too hard to choose :)

Chris introducing C to the beach for the first time...thanks Uncle Nick for being the photgrapher while mom ran to the grocery store :)

beach baby :)

She LOVED crawling in the sand....until she realized she couldn't touch her face afterwards :(

Aunt Chrissie and C

C and her daddy

Lovin' the beach!

C reading her favorite book, Barnyard Bath on the beach :)

exhausted! (notice the pink blanket...we take it everywhere I tell ya!)

C just LOVED the kiddie pool!

Love this picture!

On the move!

Getting too big...just standing in the water by herself :)

C was not into taking pictures after dinner :(

walking with Nana and Pop

Love the way he looks at her...she is his world :)

It doesn't get any better than eating Teddy Grahams by the pool does it???

playing on the steps with her momma

lovin' life! :)

I LOVE her :)

C was getting ancy while waiting on the boys for dinner...so we entertained her with the sunroof :)

3 loves of my life :)

Our family (again C was not cooperating..she gets that from her dad!)

C and Chrissie's Nick..she discovered a new love for Nick on vacation...we called him her boyfriend the way she flirted with him all week :)