Yum!

Camden has been eating rice cereal for the past couple of weeks now.  He is a hungry boy so we thought we would introduce solids.  He does a great job eating it and loves gnawing on the spoon too!

A little tilted in the Bumbo while eating.

Even more tilted.  Maybe it helps it go down easier. :)

All done!

Mr. Bear (sponge) Retires

Mr. Bear has been with us from day one.  He provided extra padding and support for our little guy during bath time.  However, he has seen better days (see last pic) and it is time for him to call it quits.  Here are a couple photos of Camden's last bath with his buddy.

Why?

Why does a 4th grade boy pick his nose in class?  Why does he then proceed to eat his boogies? Why did I watch it all happen?  Gross! We are state testing right now which means I am bored out of mind!  I just circle the room approximately 812 times while the room is dead silent and the kids sit through an unbelievably difficult test for their little 9 and 10-year-old brains.  As I circle, I make sure they are doing the correct session and that they are not doing anything to the booklets that would impact their scores.  One student in particular has a habit of folding pages and writing on his lap rather than using the desk, so I watch him a bit closer.  At one point I glance over to check on him and he is digging in his nose.  Apparently I caught the tail end of the "treasure hunt" because he then stuck that little finger of his right in his mouth and began to chew...yes, chew!  Ugh!

Extra special day

Today is a big day...Jonathan is turning 28, Camden is turning 5 months, and exactly one year ago today we found out we were going to be parents!  Whoa, that's a lot!  

Jonathan, happy birthday!  You are more than I ever hoped or prayed for.  Thank you for being my best friend, the best husband, and the best daddy.  I love you so much!  

Camden, you are so big!  You are the best baby!  I love how you scrunch your nose when I kiss your cheeks.  I love your high-pitched happy squeals.  I love your laugh.  What did I do 5 months ago without you?

March 3, 2008...good thing I went to the dentist!  A little recap for most of you: they were going to take X-rays and asked if there was a chance I was pregnant.  Being off the pill, there was a chance, but I told them I doubt it.  They skipped the X-rays.  I went to Target right after the dentist, purchased a couple of tests and the double lines appeared!  

One year later, here I am with a sweet baby boy and a 28-year-old hubby!  What a day!

New camera = new photos

As you know from the "About Me" post, I got a new camera for my birthday.  Thanks to all the parents and Jer and Sar for pitching in to make it happen!  I love it!  Now I just need to take some classes to figure out how to use it!  Here are a few recent shots of Camden...

He chews on his hands so much we busted out the teething ring to see if he'd go for it.  He liked it for a bit then went back to the hands.  Sidenote: you see this polka dot blanket (from Auntie Krista) in a lot of the pics because it's his favorite!

A little lopsided in the Bumbo.  He's trying to get a closer look at his aquarium activity mat.

There are those hands!

About me

My friend, Whitney, posted this on her blog so I thought I'd give it a try.  You are supposed to list 25-30 things about you then the readers (that's you) are supposed to leave a comment about how many you knew and/or if any surprised you.  25-30 seems like a lot, but I'll see what I can do...

1. I crack myself up (see Whit's #1...that's why we are such good friends)

2. I cannot take naps.  Even when I was getting up in the middle of the night with Camden I could not sleep during the day.

3. I have had braces twice and I still wear my retainer (almost 7 years after getting the second set off)

4. I just got a really nice camera for my birthday and hope to take creative photos someday

5. My biggest pet peeve is mouth noises...chewing, lip smacking, all of them!

6. CO drivers give me road rage

7. Dark chocolate is the best, milk chocolate is good, white chocolate is disgusting!

8. I have peed my pants MANY times from laughing so hard

9. I love to dance

10. I have always wanted to go to Africa and just squeeze those little kids

11. When my hot beverage (a chai from Starbucks, for example) gets just the right temperature, I guzzle it before it's too cold

12. I love being a wife and mommy

13. I believe you can find something positive in every situation

14. I wish I would've met my grandpa (mom's dad)

15. I want to learn how to snowboard

16. I am competitive

17. I get frustrated when I'm not good at something right away (see #16)

18. I don't cook, but wish I knew how

19. I cannot stand clutter

20. I have to sleep in complete darkness (ask Whit who put towels in her blinds for me) and with a fan on

21. I am confident

22. I love being around people every day, all day---I'm not really one of those that needs "me" time.  Although, I think that might be changing a bit now that I'm a mommy

23. I am somewhat of a perfectionist and can be really anal when it comes to certain things

24. I really was "sweet 16 and never been kissed"---by choice I might add!

25. I love getting fun snail mail--like cards and magazines

26. I am opinionated

27. In a new situation I tend to stand on the sidelines and observe before jumping right in.  People have told me they thought I was shy until they got to know me

28. I will spend a chunk of money on jeans and shoes, but not on bags (purses) or sunglasses

29. I love being an only child

30. I have a drop of Native American in me--just enough to give me the bump on my nose

So, any surprises?  Thanks for the fun game, Whit!

Mr. Panic

      So, a couple days ago I asked Crystal what she wanted for her birthday.  She got her camera, which was a whole family gift, but I wanted to know if there was anything else she really wanted. Her response?  "I want you  to write a post on our blog."  What?  Really?  I would much rather go out and buy something.  I am not a blogger, facebooker, or myspacer. Although I look at our blog daily (and many of yours) those of you that know me would never classify me as someone who "blogs."  But my wife has done an amazing job at keeping our blog current and it is her birthday, so I thought this was the least I could do.

      Well, Crystal and I are parents.  Were we ready?  I think this is a question so many couples ask.  I don't think you can ever be ready for everything that comes along with having a child.  I think Crystal and I have adjusted quite well and Camden has definitely made the life change easy and totally fun.  If you have been following our blog, you have read about all the things Camden does on a daily basis, but one thing Crystal has not blogged about is something I don't think either of us were ready for: the middle of the night panics.

      I have never been a worrier, but something about having a child has caused me to become Mr. Panic at night.  The first incident happened in the first month of Camden being born.  I have no idea what caused me to do this, but I found myself (in the middle of the night) moving pillows, moving Crystal, and looking all around our bedroom.  What was I looking for? Camden!  Can you imagine what Crystal was thinking when I was trying to roll her over? Unfortunately, Mr. Panic did not just make one appearance.  He has made many appearances and I have looked all around our room at night for our little guy on multiple occasions.  Then, it got even weirder.  I was in Amarillo, TX on business and caught myself crawling on the floor in my hotel room looking for Camden.  The worst part about this was that when I finally realized what I was doing, I got totally embarrassed like there were people looking at me.  Have you ever felt like that?  What causes Mr. P?  Maybe I could understand if we had him sleep with us in bed, but that has never been the case.  Of all the child prep classes we took, not one warned us of Mr. Panic.  I can't wait to tell these stories to Camden when he gets older. 

      So, were we ready?  Not totally.  But that has made the experience that much more exciting and that much more interesting.  Crystal and I are having a blast being parents.  From the little noises and smiles to the overflowing diapers and spit ups, it has never gotten old and I hope it never gets old (unless he is 12 and in diapers).

Happy Birthday, babe!  I wish I could be there with you (for those reading this, I am doing my first blog entry from San Diego since I am out here for work).  I hope you have a great day celebrating your first birthday with the little man.  Love you.