30 Weeks

This is a BIG week for little Camden. He's 30 weeks old now, which is crazy in itself. Regardless, I feel like he's doing something new every day. It seems like over night, he's doing things that he didn't do the day before. I can't keep up with him!! But I'm thankful I have this blog to use as a journal to keep track of it all.

The biggest milestone - today - on his 30 Week birthday, my baby started crawling. Not army crawling, like actually crawling on his hands and knees crawling. He has been doing it here and there, maybe one or two "steps" but it hasn't been consistent...until this morning. Wow.

Another big thing this week: we've started giving him real foods. We've decided to make all of his baby food instead of using the jarred stuff, so I have control over exactly what he's getting. I made Bobby take me to Whole Foods in Annapolis to buy all certified Organic produce. So far, we've given him peas (they made him gag), carrots (he doesn't seem to like them plain, so I've mixed the pureed stuff with rice cereal and he ate a LOT), and a slice of apple and pear to chew on. Oh, and Bananas, which he just spit out. Next on the list: green beans and acorn squash.

Last big thing this week: Baby Cam now has FOUR teeth. His fourth one just broke through yesterday. I can't believe it. They just started coming in right before his 5 month birthday and he's almost 7 months now and has four teeth. Poor guy, but he's been very good and only fussy a bit more. I'm so thankful. Everyone had me worried that it would be horrendous, but it hasn't been much different than he normally is *yet.*

Anyway, Happy {weekly} birthday to my little sprout. Please stop growing now, mmmk?

For those interested, he now weighs 17 pounds and 6 ounces :)

I have been unsuccessful in getting a picture of my little guy for our Christmas card. He moves SO fast now and I just can't get anything useful. This one, on the other hand, makes me laugh. He does little baby push-ups and scrunches up his nose when he does it. So cute.

I could get lost in those big, brown eyes forever.

The Army Crawl + A Few Photos

The last week or 2, Camden has learned how to do the Army Crawl. This means three things for me:

1) Our Christmas tree is no longer safe, so we put it up high this year.

2) Killian is no longer safe from grabby hands and he has vacated himself to higher ground.

3) I'll finally start losing my baby weight from bending over all the time to move Cam back to where he should be playing.

Our lives are about to start getting interesting! This video is a bit outdated since Camden started actually crawling TODAY. However, he first started this army crawl on Saturday November 19th. It was an overnight transition and I couldn't believe it!

Anyway, here are a few videos and pictures from the last 2 weeks. Enjoy! (All were taken with my iPhone, so sorry for the quality!)

Trying out his "new" high chair!

Baby loves him some rice cereal... regular food, not so much. We've only tried carrots, peas, apple, banana and pear so far.

HAIL to the Redskins!

A big milestone for me and my business... one of my pictures is the front cover of What's Up Weddings magazine and it's on all newsstands in the Baltimore/Annapolis and Eastern Shore areas! My first glossy :)

I took my Dad to New York City with me on one of MY business trips! We had a great time walking around.

Our Christmas tree. We bought a fake one this year for logistical reasons, but it's still pretty! It was up and decorated the week before Thanksgiving, too. Don't hate.

Boo! Baby likes to roll himself under the couch and poke his head out! He's quite cute, if I do say so :)

Camden hasn't been feeling well this week, so there's extra cuddle time for Mama.

My boys before Thanksgiving! Aren't they handsome?? (Please pardon my messy house. I have no excuses.)

Thankful

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations. --Psalm 100

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.

28 & 29 Weeks

Ok, please forgive me as I did not blog last week's pictures AND I'm a day late in posting this week's pictures. These past few weeks have been ca-razy with picture taking, child raising, traveling and thanksgiving-preparing. I do apologize.

Our boy is growing leaps and bounds this week. In the past week, Camden has started army crawling/crawling on his knees and he also cut his THIRD tooth (up top). I can't believe that this time last week, he couldn't crawl and now he's everywhere. For those of you who've met Baby Cam, the boy does not stay still for long anyway, but now he's mobile. With the new mobility comes poor naps and the need for "preventative discipline." We now need to start training him by setting boundaries and such. This is going to be a long process, I can tell.

Anyway, this is short because I have a million pies to bake before tomorrow and Camden has just crawled into my craft closet where there are lots of shiny things...BUT I leave you with last weeks' and this week's pictures. I have a video of him army crawling, which I will update later. For now, have a very happy Thanksgiving. We have SO much to be thankful for this year. We've been praying every day that God would give us a thankful heart not just tomorrow, but every day of the year. It is so good to give Him praise!

I'm sorry for the funny color. It was dark out when I took the picture and didn't have my flash.

What a little turkey! Love him.

He's squealing here, if you couldn't tell.

Oh, how I could stare into those dark brown eyes all day long. Don't even get me started on those cheeks and dimply knuckles!

Yes, we decorated for Christmas already. I couldn't wait! This year since we have a mobile bub, we decided to put the Christmas tree UP to spare any constant visits to the christmas tree. But nonetheless, he found the sparkly, blue button on the computer and goes to that every.time.we.put.him.down. Must find a solution for that.

27 Weeks/6 Months

Ok 6 months. Really? I could handle the weekly thing, but that "6 months" business makes it seem like Cam is much older. I'm not sure if I can handle it much longer. I mean, in 6 more months my sweet baby will be ONE YEAR OLD. I can't stand it. Next thing ya know, he will be running off, climbing my new shoe shelves, getting married, having babies of his own...

*tear*

Anyway, these 6 months have been so much fun. I am so thankful that I've been able to stay at home with him and see his sweet, little face every day, all day. Here's the latest of little baby Cam:

-Height: 29 inches long - 98th Percentile

-Weight: 16lb, 13oz - 20th Percentile ---skinny little thing

- Eating: Breastmilk (nursing) and rice cereal

- Saying: "Mama," "Dada," and "bababa" ---although I don't think they are associated with anything yet

- Doing: Rolling EVERYWHERE, sitting up, clapping his hands, putting his pacifier back in himself

- Places visited: New York City, Chicago, Washington DC, Baltimore, Annapolis, Outer Banks...soon to go international.

- Loves: Henry the Monkey, bird "puzzle," exersaucer, bouncy chair, outside/walks, animals

That's all for now :) Here's my sweet boy (we were testing something for Christmas, hence the lights in the background and red onesie!):

Cam & Jack

Two cousins. I can see it now...these two will be getting into a lot of trouble together. But hopefully, we have a little while before all of that begins. For now, my sister Christina and I just enjoy getting together and having our little ones interact with each other!

Christina and Jack came down to our house for an overnight, and it was so much fun! We watched a bunch of movies, went out to lunch, went to the grocery store and just sat around and talked. Both her and I are SAHM's (stay-at-home-Mom's), so we're enjoying this time we have with our little babies while we can!

It's always fun to see the two boys together. They could not be more opposite. Jack is cuddly and perfectly plump while Camden is constantly moving and slight as a string bean! They are noticing each other more and more each time we get them together, so it's a lot of fun to watch them interact!

We thought it would be fun to get them in the bath tub together!

Yes, his tummy is as squishy as it appears!

Jack's first time in the big tub!

Jack seemed to enjoy watching the water everywhere!

Our little babies! It was early in the morning and close to nap time, so smiles were sparse.

The Three of Us

If you had asked me when I was 9 years old what I would be doing when I was 25, I would have told you about exactly what my life is like right now. My older siblings were getting married and having babies when I was around nine, so marriage and babies had always been on my mind. I loved my American Girl dolls, and my prized Doll House very much. My friends and I always "played house" when we played together. I, of course, was always the mother...or the cat...but we're not going there today.

Sure, there were a few years in high school when I wanted to marry a beach bum, move to Hawaii and never talk to anyone again. But those fleeting stages in my life always passed and I always ended up at the same thing for my future life: a stay at home mom with a fabulously romantic and loving husband. Fast forward 16 years and here I am... stay at home mom (well, really "work at home") and wife to a fabulously loving husband.

Some days, I will wake up and tell Bobby, "let's just pack our life up and move to Paris!!" Others, I just don't feel like leaving the house. I get romantic thinking about the charms of the "greener grass" sometimes, but then I have to ask myself if I would trade my life now for all of that. No. Then I'm brought back into reality by a tug on my hair and some big, brown eyes looking up at me from my lap. I am so richly blessed and I would be a fool to trade all of these blessings to chase some fleeting fantasy. That's not to say we won't go on some adventures one day :)

We just had our family pictures taken and it made me fall deeper in love with our little family we have. My handsome husband, our sweet little boy... it makes me swoon to look at these pictures. Photo credit goes out to the amazing Gabe Aceves, who is seriously amazing. Seriously.

Oh dear. These boys. I love them so.

My favorite.

How I love these little hands and toes!

26 Weeks

We've recovered from "No Sleep Halloween" yesterday... Baby slept 9 hours between feedings last night (a total of 11 hours all together). He's all smiles today, and quite an active little fellow!

I think I mentioned it last week, but Camden got his SECOND tooth sometime in between the last 2 weeks. He's also eating Rice Cereal mixed with breast milk twice a day and has gotten the hang of it, I think! We're working on the BabyWise suggested sign language during meal times. Basic signs such as "all done," "more," "please," and "thank you." Bobby even knows them and we try to use them as much as possible to prevent communication frustrations down the road :) When he eats, I open my mouth very wide and "say ahh" in order to get him to be a better eater. He's starting to mimic me now, which means he's catching on!

This is such a fun age, and each day he is learning something new! We go in for his 6 month Doctor's appointment on Friday for some more shots and just a check-up to see how much he weighs and how tall he is. I cannot believe he is 6 months already. Where did the time go?!

Here are a few shots from this morning to mark 26 weeks!

No crawling yet, but he likes to sit like this and rock himself back and forth. In the past few days, he's been lifting a hand or a foot to try and grab something or move forward.