my polka dot thoughts

Pictures from Sarah's wedding way back in November.

2012-01-25T05:54:00.001-08:00

It can be hard to get a good family picture sometimes.

You know?

A funny thing

2012-01-04T12:53:00.000-08:00

We got Cameron a set of Lego Duplo blocks. That evening before bed I told him to clean them up. He was being a little grouchy about it so I said "I will put them up until you get bigger if you don't do what I tell you." As I said this I noticed that he was about to drop a lego into the container but instead dropped it on the floor. He said "Ok Mama, that's fine." and stopped cleaning.

I think I must have stared at him for several moments before it dawned on me what had happened. "I will put them up until you get bigger..." he thought I had just offered to clean up for him until he grew up a little. Um...no.

It gave us quite a laugh and I just had to share.

I'm back again

2011-12-15T18:19:00.000-08:00

I'm sure anyone who reads this blog already knows that we are expecting. In case anyone wondered, the reason I haven't blogged is because morning sickness has left me completely miserable.

I'm getting better though. :) I stopped eating dairy and it has done wonders. If I was sensitive to it before pregnancy, I didn't know, but now I sure do. I wonder if I've always had problems with milk but never knew until now, when it got really bad. When I was a kid, I hated to drink milk, and since I was a teenager I've had mysterious stomach pains etc. In any case, I'm glad I figured it out so I'm not vomiting several times a day and feeling like my entire digestive tract is on fire any more. I can actually get out of bed for more than two hours a day as well!

Yesterday I made a batch of cookies. Tonight there are four left. Maybe that will help me start gaining weight, or at least keep me from losing more. My kids did eat some. I freely admit that I ate most of them. Don't worry, they are healthy, raisin oatmeal with flax and half the sugar. Oh, and of course not white flour.

Tonight I made up a recipe. Maybe one like it already exists, if so, sorry recipe maker. I couldn't find one like it so that's why I made my own. It was fun to cook again, after holding my breath in my kitchen for the past month and a half.

The Concoction (Dad, I named it that for you)

2-3 baked chicken breasts, cubed (bake with a couple cups of water so you have broth)
1 bag frozen corn...more or less
sliced black olives
1 or 2 cans black beans
1/4 finely chopped cabbage
2 cans rotel tomatoes
chili powder
basil
garlic powder
pepper

Dump it all in a big pot. Add about 3 cups water (?), depending on how much broth you had. Start cooking....when it's hot, add

1 cup dry rice

simmer simmer simmer

yum yum yum

Eat three bowls full. If you can eat dairy, don't tell me that you covered it in cheese and sour cream.

We will probably eat this with tortillas or tortilla chips tomorrow for lunch. I ate it by itself tonight.

Sorry this is so detailed, telling you how many ounces is in a can and all. :P

I didn't have onions or green peppers, and if I did I may or may not have felt like chopping them up, but I'm sure they would be good in it. Cameron thought that the cabbage was onion and freaked out a little, I didn't tell him what it really was, because then he would have freaked out a lot.

Hopefully I will be back soon.

What does it mean when your day starts like this?

2011-09-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

I think Alex broke the salt and pepper shakers.
I had cereal for breakfast.
I dropped the lid to the butter dish.
Glass was sticking out of my foot.
I'm afraid to make dinner.
What if I drop the crock pot on my foot?
Cameron renamed me Moke.
Two more chairs to go before I'm done covering them.
It's 3:07pm and I need to finish those chairs before James gets home.
And make dinner.
And clean the house.
And take a shower (ha).
And sew.
And sew.
And sew.

Why am I blogging?

goodbye.

Before and After

2011-09-29T12:54:00.000-07:00

A peek at what I've been up to! More pictures as soon as Sam gets his camera back from John.

what I'm up to...

2011-09-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

First, this is my living room. Yes, I only have one end table. No, I don't think it looks good that way.
Second, I'm annoyed because everything I type is blue and underlined.
Third, I bought some fabric that I love.
Fourth, my words are now properly black and ununderlined. Yes, I said ununderlined.
Fifth, I've been sewing that fabric that I love, and making this living room fabulous (if I may say so myself).
Sixth, an assignment for Ev, because she is probably the only person who reads this. What do you think I am sewing with the three fabrics in the picture below? If there is anyone else who reads this blog, that I don't know about, you are welcome to comment as well. :)

A strange brown substance.

2011-09-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

Two days ago I walked over to my bed and pulled back the blanket only to discover something scary...

Alex happily claimed it, as you can see. I was happy when I saw that it was only chocolate. Alex, please don't scare mama like that any more, and please don't eat chocolate banana muffins in my bed again.

Our Kitchen- plus Alex, flower magnets, and construction paper on the floor.

2011-09-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

I've been putting off taking pictures of the house until the day that it's all perfect and there are no babies hanging on my legs or trying to climb up on the table. Well, that's not going to happen in real life, so I am keeping it real and posting the bad photography and kids who stick themselves in the photo. It's not so bad after all. A home looks better when lived in and babies bring joy along with their nosiness. :) And Alex is cute even when you can hardly see him. :D Hopefully I will at least post one room a week....but we all know that I never post as often as I say I will.

some cuteness

2011-09-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

Alex

2011-09-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

Didn't I say a long while back that I was going to type up a post about my dear little Alex? I feel bad having left him out after doing my Cameron post so long ago. Well, no more delays here. I'm back again after finally feeling settled in our house.

Now silly blogger isn't loading the pictures properly, so one will do for now.

I think Alex is beautiful. I may be biased. But really, I think he is. He's also sweet! He gives the cutest little kisses- not the bog ol' slobbery kind. I hear that girls are emotional. I wouldn't know, growing up in a house full of 8 girls. I guess you could say that Alex is emotional like that. For example, if he throws his food or fork on the floor as he so loves to do, and Daddy looks at him very seriously, he might burst into tears. It's hard to pretend like it's not cute when that happens. Alex is left handed. I'm left handed to, so I love that. I love watching him scribble on a piece of paper as he holds the pen perfectly. He really does. Even though left handed people supposedly hold pens weird. :) Alex loves everyone. He stays up late, and wakes up late. He hates going to sleep at night, but when he wakes up in the morning, he usually plays in his crib for half an hour. When Cameron hears him playing, he gets super excited and runs into the bedroom "Good morning Alex!" And Alex says something happily in the baby gibberish he continually uses. We love it. Oh, and in case you forgot how old he is, he's 18 months. Time really flies....

my lame picture for Ev

2011-07-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

Getting settled in

2011-07-25T09:03:00.001-07:00

We are finally getting settled in here at "the new house" as Cameron calls it. We are enjoying living in a house, it's so much nicer that an apartment, not to mention it's ours! Pictures are coming soon- I promise. :)

The boys are enjoying running in circles and dancing around in the living room, I'm enjoying my kitchen cabinets, and James enjoyed mowing the lawn for the first time, Saturday! We met our neighbors across the street about a week ago. They seemed super nice. It's kind of scary to meet neighbors. It's not like when we were in an apartment. I didn't even meet my neighbors after they had lived there for a year! There were a couple of older ladies who would comment on my kids when we walked by, but that's it, and that's how I liked it. I think I will have some adjusting to do.

We didn't have internet for a week. I don't really want to show you all pictures of messy rooms full of boxes because I'm insecure like that. So, those are my two grand excuses for not having any pictures for you today Ev! I do have a picture that was taken before the house was finished though. But I'm standing in front of it, and I didn't know James was taking a picture. Do you want me to post it? Ok. Are you sure? I am in it you know. You still want to? Ok....

Random

2011-07-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

So, we haven't moved yet. We are waiting on the meter. How depressing. We've been waiting for a week. I'm living in an apartment full of boxes.

I spray painted a chair. Well, I primed it. It looks better now.

It's 11:07pm, my kids are sleeping. I should be sleeping too.

I don't have anything to write about. When I was younger, I wrote all the time, filling journals, keeping in touch with tons of friends. I stayed up late at night just writing out what-ever-it-was. I used to be depressed a lot but I didn't know what to call it or how to describe it other than to say "I don't know why I feel like I'm crying inside". Then I got better. But man, I'm depressed today. No reason. Maybe it's just because I didn't get enough sleep the last few nights.

That was the weirdest post ever!

I'm going this crazy:

2011-06-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

I just called my son Camera. He laughed at me and got my camera. I responded with "Don't you touch my trash can!" Then we both laughed for a while. Yeah, packing seems to be having weird side affects on me.

Moving day is still supposed to be this weekend. I'm in a bit of denial. Happy though. :)

packing

2011-06-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

We are moving at the end of this month/beginning of next. We gave our 30 days notice where we currently live, so we have to be totally out of here by July 16. As reality sets in, I am overwhelmed! I don't even know where to begin packing. Any tips anyone? Looking around the internet for ideas on where to start was no help. Suggestions like numbering boxes and writing down everything you pack are not things I'm interested in. I am not that orderly or organized and I'm not going to pretend to be. I have started to randomly pack things. I packed up all the extra blankets, towels, cloth diapers, etc. Then I realized that I might want to use some of those things as padding when I pack up my breakables. Too bad, I'm not opening those boxes. :) Then I emptied the closet in the living room and started filling it with boxes of books, maternity/fat clothes, and sewing junk (yes, that's how I labeled them). Now I'm tired and it's not even 3pm. Man, I must be out of shape.

Let me tell you a little about my three year old...

2011-06-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

Where do I begin? Cameron is so cute and fun to be with. He is such a happy part of our lives! So, let me tell you about this little man. (Next week I will post about Alex, by the way.) Cameron loves to learn and his most recent accomplishments are memorizing what each letter of the alphabet looks like and words that begin with each letter. He surprised me recently as he held the Psalm book in his lap and sang psalm 23 he interrupted himself to exclaim "There's a G!" so now it's a fun game to play with grown up books. He also counts to 12, forgetting the number 6 and adding it at the end. He loves to learn about the Bible. If I say "let's talk" he begs to have a conversation about God. He starts most of these conversation with "So...." I hope his interest in these things never fades.

Cam loves to wear hats and read books. If you spend time with him you will quickly learn that he is a fireman. Don't call his fire helmet a hat- it's a helmet-thank-you-very-much! He also has a great sense of humor. The following photo is an example of the sort of things he does to keep my life interesting.
He's also pretty cheesy...

And he looks great in headbands. Didn't I tell you he has a great sense of humor?

Oh, and sunglasses are a must every time we step out the door. I think Daddy took this picture as they waited in the car and I went into the store. That's probably why he is so unimpressed.
As soon as I figure out how, I am going to post two videos of him. You will like them. I promise.

My "new" lamp!

2011-06-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

I think I helped out this little lamp, would you agree? I've always been a little afraid of yellow, but it's been growing on me lately so I tried it out. I'm pretty pleased with the results. It's like a little bit of sunshine in my room.

I didn't take a "before" picture, but here it is in the process. Ruffles seem to be on everything lately and so my poor (ugly) lamp was just sitting there begging to be part of the fun, I agreed. We are much happier now. :)

My Good Friend

2011-02-17T14:06:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry people friends, if you thought I was going to talk about you, I'm not. I'm talking about this:

I use this stuff on my face, on smelly laundry and whatever else I decide needs help. So, if you need freshening up, I might just offer you baking soda. :)

My camera doesn't work

2011-02-16T11:25:00.000-08:00

These pictures are taken with my cell phone.

We were having fun today with some leg warmers that I just got from mylittlelegs.com

Don't worry, even though I think it's adorable, Cameron will probably not be wearing this the next time you see him. :) Cameron was in his own little world with no idea that I was watching him, so he thought it was pretty hilarious when I showed him this picture.

Aren't they huggable?

By the way, Alex is turning one next week! Where has the time gone?

One more try

2011-02-07T16:07:00.000-08:00

After leaving my blog for quite some time, I think I'm ready to get back to it. Throughout the days, I think to myself that I should write things on here, or put up certain pictures, but since I haven't blogged for so long, I hesitate to start up again. Ok. I'm done hesitating. We will see how long this lasts.....who is going to read this anyway?

I'd like to have little more on here than just baby pictures. Why not talk about how I make babyfood, or pictures showing you that I finally made a skirt cut on the bias? Or, I could put up pictures of my first ever attempt at applique, and how I cheated to make it super easy. Yes, I think I'm going to start doing this. I even got my camera out from the corner of the closet and got it working again.

Should I get back to blogging?

2010-08-31T13:36:00.000-07:00

a couple of pictures

2010-04-26T15:22:00.000-07:00

Alex is 2 months old now and pretty happy too!

They love eachother sooo much! (Cameron is getting a cold, and it's showing here)

Cameron

2010-04-09T12:33:00.001-07:00

Here's Cameron posing for Esther-"Es" as he calls her. The shirt he's wearing is from her, and he loves it. It has become one of those things he wants to wear every day. I'd heard about kids becoming attached to things like this, I just hadn't experienced it until now.

He also wants to wear his boots with everything, including shorts of course. Ahhh...

...he looks like a hillbilly. :D

I umm...oops...

2010-04-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

...but first here is Alex at five weeks.

I rearended someone, how stupid. My bad. The police were nice, they didn't give me a ticket.

Alex at four weeks

2010-04-02T13:01:00.001-07:00

This is a little blurry because it was taken with my phone. I'll put up more pictures as soon as I get them onto the computer...we'll see how soon that ends up being! I think you can already tell that he's getting chubby here! Yay! I took a picture of him yesterday (at five weeks) and he looks a little bigger than in this picture. It's amazing how quickly they change!

baby picture

2010-03-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

Here's Alex at about one week.

new baby!

2010-03-01T13:46:00.000-08:00

Who is this?

Alexander Timothy Smith

Thursday, February 25, 2010

1:10 P.M. 7 pounds 1 ounce 20 3/4 inches

Mama and baby the next day.

We are calling him Alex. :)

Guess what? I'm blogging.

2010-01-25T14:09:00.000-08:00

Shocking isn't it?

I have no pictures because I don't feel like taking any, and I also don't feel like charging my camera's batteries. I'm not very motivated lately, and am just a bit more interested in other things...like getting ready for this baby to arrive! The last few weeks I felt like time was moving very slowly, and that I was getting baby clothes ready etc for something that's not happening for a long time. Then all of a sudden I was 35 weeks along today and decided I'd better get moving...but I'll blog first. :P

James has been home a lot lately since he's currently full time student only, instead of full time student and full time worker. We see more of eachother lately than ever in our married life, and it's great! What am I going to do when he gets a job? Miss him that's for sure.

Cameron seems so grown up lately, going to sleep on his own and things like that. I'm sure that as soon as the baby is born he will seem VERY big! I'm looking forward to having two children, at the same time as I'm a little nervous about how it will be when they decide to nap at separate times but seem to be both awake at the same time and I never have a chance to clean house. :D I guess that's when a sling and a highchair will come in handy!

A couple weeks ago we were starting to wonder if this little one would ever get out of his breech position. At first he had his feet down, and then he curled up his legs and was just bottom down, with his back nicely against my back. What a stubborn way to be! But 2 weeks ago he flipped himself around and has stayed in the right position all this time. Yay! But now I feel weird because I'm not used to it, Cameron was never quite the "normal" way, so I'll have to adjust to this! But we are very thankful that so far everything is looking good and now we are just waiting... I wonder how long?

Now to clean the microwave...yuck!

a few more pictures from last weekend

2009-11-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

Cameron is getting dangerously tall... now I have to watch out for things like this: I was trying to get a good picture of Daddy and Cam, but the lighting was bad... and he wanted to show us his belly...

and then he decided to be show us he was a good boy and fold his hands.

So that's as good as it gets lately when trying to take a picture of Cameron.

I have pictures!

2009-11-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

We went to the Aquarium today. Last week we went to the zoo, but I don't have pictures of that. Cameron ended up enjoying the aquarium more, I think. He loves fish! The expression on his face in this first picture shows about how he looked the whole time. :)

Cameron was very amazed by these big cats. To me these pictures look almost scarey!

I thought it was possible that the people who don't see me might want to know how I'm looking at 6 months pregnant, so here we are! Cameron was making a cute face for his daddy.

going through "stuff"

2009-11-03T11:13:00.001-08:00

I have been wanting to go through my house and toss out EVERYTHING that's just taking up space for no reason before this baby is born. My closets are so cluttered right now! I just nearly filled the trunk of my car with junk that I've known for a long time I don't want, but just haven't gotten around to actually tossing it out. What? Four boxes and 2 bags and that's without going through closets and drawers yet! YUCK! I'm amazed when I think about the fact that I moved down here a little over 4 years ago with only a few bags, and now I have a three bedroom apartment full to keep in order! Maybe I'll finish filling the trunk today, I don't know. I'm just a little tired now from going up and down those stairs so many times.

Oh, and let me tell you, it's a whole lot easier to declutter when a certain small child is sleeping. Little Cameron is always so busy, he's continually begging for something to do. That means things like folding clothes and loading the dishwasher are usually done when he's either asleep or in his high chair. But don't think that means I don't let him help with things. He is able to truly help me every day. It's so cute! All paper trash, silverware, and dirty laundry is taken care of right away when he's around. He's also Mama and Daddy's little messenger. It's helpful to be able to give him something to give to Daddy in the other room and know that he'll really do it. He loves to pass Bibles out in the evening as well, and often decides all of his own that it's time for worship.

Yesterday I had told Cam to stay out of my closet and that he needed to get ready for a nap. Then we went into the other room where I changed his diaper and took his overalls off of him. He was tired and crying the whole time, but as soon as he saw his clothes sitting there on the floor he picked them up and said something very seriously in his one year old gibberish. I figured he wanted to put them in the laundry basket which happens to be in the closet I had just told him to stay out of. He was standing in my doorway and half crying, half talking because he really really wanted to go in there but knew he wasn't allowed. When I told him he could he was so happy and only then did he finally feel ready to take a nap.

Yes, I know, this is a long and boring post for so many of you. Well, I didn't make you read it, so it's not my fault if you are bored. But I'll stop now anyway.

So confusing...

2009-10-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

four weeks ago I went to my midwife and she and another midwife decided that I was having a girl. I went in again today, and my midwife was feeling a bit unsure of herself b/c yesterday a lady had a baby that she thought was going to be a girl, but it was a boy. So, she said, let's check again....hmmm...."oh" she gasped, "I think it's a boy". I said "oh boy" and for some reason had this urge to laugh really hard. So, yeah, now I feel a bit like I don't know what I'm having, even though it's very likely that it's a boy. I told James and he said that it's a boy for sure. hehehe I just feel weird now, and don't really feel like thinking about the gender right now. I just figure we better get woprking on a boy name. So that's my news for the day, or week, or until I get back on here again.

Oh yeah, and I found out that I've gained only 4 pounds if I go by my prepregnancy weight, but 7 pounds if I count after I lost a few when I first got pregnant. I am becoming amazed at how different each pregnancy has been so far. I even have different aches and pains! That sounds silly, but it's true.

Anybody want the "swine" flu?

2009-10-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I don't think we can give it to you any more. We are almost all better. :) But now I have a cold. We've been fighting one sickness after the other for about 4 weeks, and it's really getting tiring! Hopefully we are just about done with it all, and are on the mend for good! Yay! Oh, and that is my excuse for not blogging lately, not to mention we had people staying with us for over three weeks during that time as well. What a busy month!

On a happier note, we are half way through this pregnancy and looking forward to having a girl! It seems like time is going by a lot faster this time. I'm having a hard time adjusting my mind to the idea of looking for girly things though. I can't help but notice baby boy things, and then I have to remind myself- No Hayley, you do not need blue things, you need girly colors! I'm sure I will get used to it quickly enough. I've gained 6-8 pounds so far, which doesn't seem like very much compared to Cameron, but he keeps me busy (it's like I'm lifting weights every day as I take care of him!), and every pregnancy is different, so I guess it's what can be expected. The baby moves around all the time, and I think that it's possible to feel from the outside now, so that's neat...although she's still so little it would be hard for anyone other than myself to find it at this point. Hopefully that just made sense.

still no camera folks... sorry bout that. :)

a few pictures from James' camera

2009-09-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

This would have been a good picture if only Cameron had kept his eyes open! James had just gotten home from work and of course Cameron was very happy to see daddy.

The expression on his face here reminds me of James very much.

still can't find the cord to my camera

2009-09-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

So here's a really old pic. It's driving me crazy that I can't find the bag with all the things that go to my camera.

I'm 14 1/2 weeks along now. Yesterday I decided to weigh myself, assuming I had gained some since Cameron is nearly weaned and I really can't wear my normal clothes any more. But no, I've actually lost a couple pounds since I've been pregnant! How did that happen? I don't remember when I started gaining with Cameron, but that probably doesn't matter b/c this pregnancy is so different than with him! Maybe some people would think I'm silly to worry about gaining weight, and I'm not that worried about it, it's just weird for me.

Yeah, I know, it's been a long time.

2009-08-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

I just haven't felt like blogging lately. Life is busy, I'm tired, I can't find the cord to my camera so I have no good pictures, so, I have no incentive to post anything. Here's a little update anyway.

Cameron has almost all his teeth in. He's been teething for what seems like forever. We are working on weaning... it's going pretty good. Just the early morning hours to go and we'll be done. :) Yay!

James starts school next week. He will be gone on monday and wednesday nights this semester. That will be hard, but he has no choice really.

After having a miscarriage in April, I have been very slow to mention anything about this current pregnancy. But since I'm almost at 13 weeks, and my midwife has seen the heartbeat, I'm feeling much less worried than before. So, yes, as most, if not all of you reading this know, I am pregnant and my due date is Feb. 28. That is why I'm weaning Cameron. It's hard to keep my weight from dropping while nursing and pregnant at the same time. It's just too draining to have to get up in the middle of the night to feed him, and then I have to feed myself so that I don't wake up in the morning sick because of being too hungry! I don't know how some people manage to do both all the way through and gain any weight like they are supposed to!

The tenth was our anniversary, I can't believe it's been two years already since we got married. Well, I guess I can believe it when I think about all the things that have happened it that time, and I look at Cameron and see how big he's gotten.

Speaking of Cameron, he's waking up from his nap. I better run now.

just pictures

2009-05-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

Cameron is walking and very excited here. The angle makes it looks like he's holding on to the chair, but he's not. Helping mama with the dishwasher is one of his favorite things to do.
Oh, and climbing into everything!

Someone must be watching his mother too much!

I was trying to take a nice picture but he wanted the camera, so this is what we got.

more pics from C.'s birthday

2009-05-07T08:22:00.001-07:00

The happy Cameron! Matthew and Cam enjoying the new toy.
A random picture. I think Care must be telling me about how she just fed her kids chocolate covered esspresso beans instead of chocolate covered raisins! Sorry Nat, you look weird here!

This is John. John always has a strange look on his face for pictures. John doesn't look strange here. John actually looks nice here. WOW! So, I had to put it up! Sorry John, I also had to tease you. Thanks for taking most of these pictures. :-)

Grandparents

A bunch of strange men who took over my couch. :-)

Claire!

For some reason there aren't any of James looking at the camera. I'll have to try that later.

Cameron is one year old already!

2009-05-06T16:09:00.000-07:00

The pics are all mixed up! Relaxing with Nat. This is how it works...
Yay! A puzzle!

So sleepy!

Opening presents with Daddy was fun!

He was very excited to see so many people at his house!

Concentrating on a piece of apple that his grandpa gave him. Excuse the buggy bites!

I have nothing to say!

2009-04-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

I don't really have a lot to write here but I thought I'd better post something before people started reminding me to! But what do I even write about? Hmmm...update on Cameron for people like my relatives and Sam!

Well, he's getting around pretty good now, I'm just waiting and waiting for him to start walking now. He likes to hold on with one hand and walk that way, and he's let go a few times and just stood there. After church Cam always tries to get out of my arms, he seems to think he can walk. :-)

Babyfood is off limits now. He seems to think anything babyish or mushy is below him. I discovered that I can fool him into eating dry cereal or fruit puffs by putting them in the bottom of a toy bucket, then he feels very independant and has fun. He makes the most crazy faces now, it makes his parents laugh and he knows it.

Throwing everything is his new hobby, so watch out if you put anything in his hand, it will probably fly through the air. Oh, and he tries to hum or sing "la la la" and I've even caught him trying to copy the siren sound on one of his toys!

finally I post

2009-03-25T10:31:00.001-07:00

Poor house....

We went to the beach on Saturday and had a picnic. This was the first time I'd been to Galveston since Ike. James had fun drawing pictures in the sand. This one is my favorite, it looks like something he would have drawn when he was a kid. :) Cameron had never played in the sand before. He had a great time and cried when we were done because he liked it so much.

I really like how this one ended up.

Yes, I should put up pictures from my trip to Tennessee, and try to make up for not posting in such a long time, but I really don't have the time to, so this will have to do!

Just look at the post I did before this one to make sense of it.

2009-02-11T11:27:00.001-08:00

Ok to finish telling you what we did today, Cam and I ate cantalope outside. He really liked it. Here is the rest of my bathroom that disapeared from my last post.

Cameron is, as usual following me everywhere I go, so I took a picture of him too.

So anyway, it's now time to eat lunch for both of us, so I'd better get going and stop telling you all what I'm doing today and what my house looks like. I'll try to post pics of the rest of the apartment soon.

A few days ago, I "did" his hair and when I went to take a picture of him, he gave me a very fake smile. He loves to get his picture taken so much he even poses!

An even funnier smile just for the camera.

my day so far...

2009-02-11T10:57:00.000-08:00

I forgot to turn this picture before putting it up, so it looks confusing to me even though I took it. But anyhow I washed diapers this morning and here they are hanging out on our little balcony... sideways. :-/

Cameron obviously doesn't understand why his mama just folded his diapers...

I thought to myself, my family doesn't know what my apartment looks like, I will show them. So I cleaned and then took pictures. This is the bathroom off of our room.

I gave up on trying not to be in the picture.

I also cleaned the bedroom today, and dusted .

Wait, one of my pictures disapeared. I had another picture of my bathroom. I'll just put it on the next post. Oh well. I give up on making this orderly.

eating and having fun

2009-02-05T08:39:00.000-08:00

Cameron has been learning to eat things on his own lately, and I jusy had to snap some pictures. I thought it was so fun! Yes, I know, I need to get him a highchair. Squinting at the camera as usual.

Daddy, if you ever find any crumbs on your belt, you'll know why. (I love his expression here)

Last of all, this is what he did as I cleaned the bathroom yesterday. It kept him quite occupied for a long time.

I discovered top teeth in Cameron's mouth yesterday, which may explain what I thought was extraordinary bad sleeping for no reason...until the neighbor kid screamed for half an hour straight last night at 3am. Then I realized he wasn't toooo bad. I'm not sure if both top teeth are poking through or if it's just one still, he won't let me touch.

2009-02-03T05:26:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post for a while, but never feel like, or have the time to add the pictures from my camera that I'm wanting to put on here. It's 7:30 in the morning and I hardly slept last night, but Cameron is asleep so here I am.

Now where is my camera... For some reason this is underlining and I don't want it to be. How annoying. Not to mention my pics are out of order.

So, I got cameron a new blanket and bumper pads etc. We moved him into the other room. Not sure if it's working very well yet seeing how he wakes up every couple hours crying, which turns to screaming quite quickly!

Cameron, happy on John's lap as usual.

Cameron fell asleep this way and I thought it was cute...back when he went to sleep on his own...

It's actually cold this morning. Even though it's rarely cold here, whenever it is, I hate it. I guess it's a good thing I'm down here in Texas.

randomish

2009-01-14T07:27:00.000-08:00

My washer broke and so I had a guy come to see about fixing it. I found out that it would be more worth it to get a new one than to fix it, so now we are washer shopping. bla.

On a happier note, Leah and I went to a consignment shop in houston yesterday. I've always refused to drive in houston but did it this time and since i'm still alive, I guess it wasn't too bad. The place we went was pretty nice, they sold just about everything for babies, kids, and moms. I hope to go there again sometime. They even sold cloth diapers! Afterward Leah came over for lunch, we had left before 10 but didn't get back til after 1 and we were sooo hungry!

Cameron actually slept for 7 hours straight last night. this is the first time since getting sick (the first time in over 3 weeks) that he's not woke up every 2-3 hours all night long. Yes that's tiring. I'm afraid he fell asleep before i gave him his antibiotic, so I wonder if that had to do with his ability to sleep. I think it gives him a stomach ache. He also ate babyfood yesterday which he hasn't been doing lately. I feel sorry for his poor tummy. Well, he's asleep now in my arms so typing is very slow going right now. I think I'll leave it at that and go get busy before he wakes up.

A few pics of Cameron

2009-01-12T18:46:00.000-08:00

You can see the teeth on this little ham here! Gramma Mc, Cam really likes the book you gave him, as you can see here. He was lying on his stomach "reading" but then I got out the camera and he had to pose for me. So I didn't end up getting him that way.

I almost got caught him reading, but then he had to come get me!

busy!

2009-01-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

Hi Everybody, it's been a busy time lately so I've not had spare time for blogging. First there was the communion season, then Jett and Ev came and stayed with us for a week, and then James and Cameron both were sick. This saturday (today) we finally have a relaxed day without a million things to do and James actually has off work!!! Monday will make three weeks of Cameron being sick. First he had a cough, and then something like the flu and then he started wheezing so I brought him to the doctor who gave him an antibiotic so hopefully he'll be well soon. Two nights ago Cameron didn't want to go to sleep so i just put him in his bed and tried to ignore him as I wanted to go to sleep. I looked over at his because he was laughing and there he was standing up for the first time and feeling very proud of himself. It was pretty startling to see, especially at nearly midnight when the baby is supposed to be tired! So I guess pretty soon he'll be pulling up on everything!

Here's an old pic of us peoples all in green by accident. That was a long time ago, well at least before Cameron was around. :-)

More pics are coming soon!!!

they came in the mail already!

2008-12-12T13:55:00.000-08:00

I ordered some diapers, covers, and snappis from babyworks on Wednesday, and they've already arrived. That means it only took two days! That's so cool. lol I sound like a little kid. Now we'll see how long the motherease diapers take to come in the mail. For those of you who are interested, I'll put up a pic soon. :-)
P.S. I already cut my finger on a snappi...don't ask. :-D

too many diapering options

2008-12-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

I've been planning on switching to cloth diapers for a while now, but have the feeling it's just too easy to spend more $ on them than is really needed. I'm seriously considering making my own diapers. Not that I won't buy any as well, but I just want to try it. I actually bought a few today. Now, I have a question for those of you who read this blog and use cloth diapers already. What materials do you think would work the best? Not, which brand or style of diapers, but which materials that I will probably have wandering around my house just waiting to be recycled would be best to use? I'm sitting here with a cotton receiving blanket in my lap and I keep looking at it and thinking about my old accidentaly bleached towels and washcloths in the closet and the pile of old t-shirts that I figured I'd use for dusting. hmmmmm..... any ideas?

Now of course I won't leave without a few pictures. :-) Here is Cameron on thanksgiving. After many tries the last picture finally worked.

Finally!!! The picture I was striving for!!! :-)

bath time yesterday

2008-11-21T09:56:00.001-08:00

Cameron is squinting and getting ready for the camera flash. He is pretty familiar with picture taking time and as soon as he sees the camera he makes faces to get ready. lol This is just him chilling before a bath.

in the tub

afterward Very tired out from all the fun, now it's nap time. I didn't even get to lotion him or anything.

Sorry this is a very sloppy post. I noticed afterward that the pics were sideways, and now I don't feel like fixing it. Just put your head sideways and it'll be ok. :-)

more pics

2008-11-14T15:29:00.000-08:00

I thought this was a good pic and really liked how the tree branches reflect in the sunglasses. And the blue brings out the color of his eyes. :-)

I thought this was a cute pic of Cameron and his cousin Julia

We were having too much fun with the poor child!

this time I have pictures

2008-11-14T15:04:00.000-08:00

Cameron now really enjoys drinking from a straw. Aunt Toria taught him how. He already liked to drink water, but now he enjoys it even more. Gramma, do you recognize this cup you got for him? It has a straw instead of the regular sippy cup, and I like it better that way!

I put him in this chair a while back and he was pretty tickled about it! Mom, you left this chair here when you came down, I guess it was Diane's? I guess it's Cameron's now! Oh, and no, I don't really care for what his shirt says, I just wear it on him around the house mostly.

Cameron's mama just had to buy this toy because he liked it so much! It keeps him occupied and now I don't have to worry as often about leaving him to play by himself and ending up under the table or something! As you can see, he really does enjoy it. It has three legs, two with wheels and one that stays put so he can go in circles w/o running away.

The $25.00 crib and mattress! See how Cam has his feet in the air and the blanket on his head? That is how he gets to sleep. :-D For some reason he hates to have a blanket on his legs and it always ends up on his head. I think he puts his legs in the air b/c of when he's in bed with us and I sleep on my side, he rests his legs on me.

can't think of a title

2008-11-11T10:03:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I went to some yard sales with the girls. I almost didn't go, but decided to at the last minute. Now I'm very glad I went. I got a crib and matress for only $25.00! I also got 4 books for $2.00. Some people might find big thick books on "nutritional healing" and "natural cures" to be quite boring, but I enjoy reading such things. :-) I also got 2 "what to expect..." books. I was reading in one last night and laughing as I read about the sixth month in the book, What to Expect the First Year. They were talking about a method of getting your little one to sleep through the night for "softhearted or weaknerved parents". I was laughing at this "program" called Systematic Awakening because I've done it since Cameron was born and never thought anything of it. Why do books always make up fancy names for normal things? Anyway it's pretty much just taking care of the baby (feeding, diaper change etc) before he wakes up crying for it. Then he stays asleep. Oh, I guess I'm a softhearted weaknerved parent. Oh well, I don't see any reason for Cameron to cry more than he has to. By the way, talking about sleeping, I'm so thrilled, Cameron did not cry at all when I put him in his new crib for all his naps yesterday, and for the night. I am so glad, he now knows how to totally get to sleep on his own and he cries if I hold him instead of putting him in his bed. This is very nice except at church when he needs a nap.

I'm not babysitting any more. I think this will be a nice break.

Sorry to all you folks who find this very boring. You didn't have to read it. :-)

new teeth

2008-11-04T08:15:00.000-08:00

Cameron probably wouldn't want me to take a picture of his latest accomplishment so I'll have to just tell you. After a tough week, he cut two teeth on friday! Yay! That morning he was so cranky, and hadn't been himself for days, then he woke up from a long nap, and was normal. Finally, two little teeth. :-) It's so nice to have him acting normal again.
Cameron has been rolling a lot, and tries to get on his hand and knees. He scoots and ends up in weird places, like under the coffee table, if I am not watching very closely. I'm not sure how much babyfood a six month old should eat. If I nurse him, and then feed him a jar with cereal, he cries when it's done. Oh boy! That should be enough I would think. Too bad he doesn't agree.

Last night Cameron figured out how to undo his diaper. I'd better keep an eye on that. After a bad week (teething, plus the time change), and his sleep scedule getting all messed up I wondered how long it would take Cameron to fall asleep totally on his own during the day...as in, me letting him cry and just recovering him with a blanket and giving him his pacifier when he needed it. This is the third time I've done it, and it only takes him 4 minutes to fall asleep. Yay!
So I guess that's all on the little 6 month old for today.

2008-10-30T04:38:00.000-07:00

Why do pics end up backwards from the way I download them? Anyway... Cameron really likes to play with the tags on my pillows, so I must admit that I haven't cut them off yet. It just keeps him entertained so well! He can hardly be left on the couch any more though since he's rolling and wriggly lately, so I imagine I'll cut the tags off when I decide to keep him off the couch!

I think this cutie looks awfully chubby here!

no pics of James!

2008-10-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

James doesn't really like to get his picture taken, so in most of the pics I have of him, he's either looking away, or like this....

I think it's pretty cute, Cameron was playing with James and smiling but when he saw the camera, he just stared at it and waited for the flash. The week before he started his new job, James took a week off work to study. He ended up sick that week, so it was a good thing he'd already planned to be at home. When James leaves in the morning Cam is still asleep, so he really enjoyed having Daddy there when he woke up, as you would be able to tell if Cam had kept his smile. Hmmm, James doesn't know this pic was taken, since he was asleep, but he won't mind. :-)

new jobs and allergies

2008-10-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

James started his new job as a roofing inspector this week. Right now he's training with two other people. I'm not sure how long it will be till he's out on his own. I hope he likes it once he is! Victoria got a job as a hostess, her first day was monday as well, so the house is full of new scedules and peoples getting used to their new jobs. Mine is the same as usual - babysitting too many hours each day. Now I have to bring Victoria to work and pick her up with two little ones in car seats. Then I have to do it again when her break is over. Tatum's car seat has to go in and out of the car continually so that her mom can pick her up on her lunch break etc. ahhhh, so annoying! We have to figure something else out. I hope that eventually I won't babysit any more. I feel like now that I have my own baby, I don't really feel like having someone elses child make messes in my house, and take up my time, I want to take care of my family more. Hopefully that doesn't sound rude, it's just true!!! Oh well.

Last week James was sick, and he's still trying to get over it. Cameron kept getting a stuffy nose, and I've noticed that if I take allergy meds then he's better, but every time I skip, it gets worse. I guess he gets some of it through nursing. I don't like to be on stuff, and so I always live w/o it (never mind the dark circles around my eyes from allergies), but now I'm thinking I should take it every day for Cameron's sake. But is there anything else to do? I would hate to have Cameron taking stuff for allergies when he's a little one still. Has anyone else had this problem?

Speaking of Cameron, he just woke up from a nap and I hear him singing/talking in the other room so I'd better get going now!

Missing Ev...

2008-10-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

So I put up this picture of Evelyn and Amelia. I think I've been missing her more lately since she's expecting and I'm realizing this is going to be the second time she'll have a baby since moving. What a difference from when she had Amy and we lived in the same house!

Love you Ev!!! (and Jett and Amy and Aaron)

an old picture

2008-10-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

here's a picture taken right before I had Cameron. I look at it and laugh before I was so huge. :-) I put this one up for people like my mom and gramma.

taking a walk today

2008-10-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

before and after

2008-10-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

Even though this will no doubt be uninteresting to some of you, I'm to putting up a before and after picture. I've been wanting to add some color to my ugly brown living room, and finally was able to get some pillows, they helped sooooo much! So, before...

and after!!!

Cameron matched the room, so I put him in the picture!

Don't the pillows help a lot? I was so pleased! I think I'm going to try to get blue candles eventually. By the way, a new JC Penny was opening, so I went there and they had the pillows, buy one, get one for $1, plus i had a $10 off coupon so that made the pillows even nicer. ;-)

Feeding Cameron

2008-10-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago I was feeding C. and he was having a great time.

ROAAAARRRR (yes, he roars)

Then he sneezed. I had to take a picture...

since so many people have been bothering me...

2008-10-03T08:36:00.000-07:00

I now have a blog (obviously). Is everyone happy now? Mercy came over here last week and set it up, so now I have no excuse. I guess it's a good idea since I have family and friends who might want to know what I'm up to.

Cameron is 5 months now, so i tried to take some good pictures of him. These are my favorites.

Now the Grandmas have pictures!!!