On Our Way

shuttle launch...or not...

2009-06-16T19:12:00.011-04:00

We went to the beach last weekend for the shuttle launch...we failed to get the memo that the launch had been canceled at midnight the night before... :(
However, we did get there in time to see the beautiful sunrise...and I had the opportunity to take some GREAT pictures of Camden! :)

Camden had an AWESOME time at the beach! I can't believe how well he took to the sand! We joked he was like a little sea turtle...crawling around in the sand and leaving tracks everywhere! I guess he gets his love for the beach from his Daddy...I know it does NOT come from me! :)

My favorite...I think it looks SO much like my baby pictures! :)

Happy birthday CiCi

2009-05-21T20:13:00.002-04:00

Today is my Mom's birthday.

I am so blessed to have such an amazing woman to call "Mom"
My Mother truly is Super Woman as far as I'm concerned and I'm pretty sure that most people who know her can easily agree!
Mom, you are such a blessing to everyone who's life you have touched. You are so thoughtful and giving. You're talents are countless! You are an amazing entertainer and an unbelievable cook. Your creativity is limitless and your faith is inspiring. There are countless wonderful things I could say about you but most of all, I'm so proud that you are my Mother!
You mean so much to me...you mean so much to all of us!

Happy 60th Birthday Mom!!!!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-11T08:18:00.005-04:00

Here they are!!! (I haven't edited them yet so they aren't perfect...I'll do more when I have time) Happy Easter!

Teaser...

2009-04-06T10:11:00.002-04:00

Not really post worthy here, but I wanted to let you know photos will be coming!

I'm on spring break this week and I just feel like I need to take some good pictures of our baby boy!

So...it may be next week...but there will pictures...and they will be good! :)

pictures

2009-04-02T16:28:00.002-04:00

Camden is at CiCi's for the week. He's spending time with her and Nannie. Check out CiCi's Blog to see all the fun!!!

on the way home :)

2009-03-22T19:01:00.000-04:00

TEETH!!!

2009-03-06T16:05:00.002-05:00

We got a picture! Woo Hoo!

Of course, you can only see 2 here...and he now has a grand total of SIX!

Yeah, that's right folks SIX teeth on my 7 month old infant!

I promise...

2009-03-04T19:43:00.005-05:00

Camden now has FOUR teeth (and trust me...those top ones are "full size.") :)

HOWEVER, you'd never know it from the pictures I post. He's still doing the "tongue thing" and I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because he likes the feel of his teeth on his tongue or maybe it's just that he has finally discovered he has a tongue and he just likes to play with it...on second thought, it could also be a result of that the time his Daddy has spent "teaching" him how to stick out his tongue!

Here's our sweet boy...tongue and all...don't expect to see any teeth :)

make-over

2009-02-28T16:53:00.002-05:00

Well, I FINALLY figured out how to give the blog a makeover (the RIGHT way).

How do we look?

cookie time

2009-02-28T15:54:00.003-05:00

Camden ate a cookie today...it wasn't the first time, but it was the first time he actually held if for himself and didn't just sit there with his mouth WIDE open waiting for me to put the cookie in!

He stopped to have a little "chat" with the cookie. (seriously...the kid was talking TO the cookie!)

Then he decided to smile for me and let me know how excited he was about the cookie. However, he is no longer able to smile without sticking out his tongue at the "smile-ee" :)

So this is his new "smile"

rollin rollin rollin

2009-02-14T11:16:00.003-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Camden decided to give us the gift of ROLLING OVER! That's right folks he FINALLY did it (last night)! I'm not sure why he waited so long, but he did. He's really quite mobile now...he's "inching" backwards and trying to get up on his hands and knees. He's really comfy on this belly. He loves playing on his play mat. He especially likes the "crinkle noise" pieces.

David is taking some video of him as I'm typing I'll try to get it uploaded soon! He's just too precious for words! :)

I admit it...

2009-01-30T13:28:00.004-05:00

I'm over whelmed! I know I've been slacking with the blog...I've been slacking big time! I'm sorry. Things just seem so crazy between work, home, and baby...I haven't been spending more than 10 minutes on the computer at night lately! (Of course, part of that is my addiction to the Twilight book series...which results in me going to bed 1 to 2 hours early just so I don't feel like I'm staying up too late reading...Thanks so much Ashley for the addiction!) :)

So...I'll start with Camden! :)

Camden is 6 months old...TODAY!

He weighs 19 pounds 4 ounces and he is 27 and 3/4 inches long!

He is sitting up on his own but still not rolling over (the Doctor was not concerned)

He is eating lots of different solids now and seems to love them all. He really does prefer fruit to veggies most days though :)

His first word is Dada. He started saying it this week and he has said it 3 times that we are aware of now. We knew he was going to be an early talker :) Let's face it...the kid comes by it honestly!

He recently took his first trip without Mommy and Daddy. His CiCi came to pick him up back on the 21st (Wednesday). She flew from Nashville to Orlando, where David met her at the airport with Camden and then she and Camden flew back to Nashville just two hours after she'd gotten here! :)

He stayed with CiCi and Poppie for almost a full week! CiCi flew back down (to Tampa) with him on 26th and he stayed with her one night in Parish before coming home on the 27th (Tuesday).

He, I'm sure had a wonderful time with his grandparents and GREAT-grandparents who were SOOOO happy to have him in Tennessee so they could love on him! :)

Here he is hanging out on Poppie and CiCi's kitchen table! :)

All bundled up! It doesn't get that cold in Florida!!! :)

Now on to David and I...

Things are pretty much the same for me at work...I love my job but it still remains to be extremely stressful, strenuous work. My kids are a MILLION times "better" than they were when I began 3 months ago...but we still have a long way to go. I am constantly thankful for the help and support I have from my coworkers and administration...it definitely make all the difference in the world!!! :)

Other than that, our house is looking good...thanks to some pretty wonderful friends...we are planning on having a Super Bowl party on Sunday night (ALL David's idea) :)

David is still doing well at work. He's pretty much only bar tending now.

He has decided that he wants to go to school and become a High School history teacher! I think it's the perfect job for him! He thinks so too! :) So, our next step is to get him started in school and get the ball rolling!

I think that's about all for now...and I'll TRY to do better!

Thanks for reading!!! :)

new...

2009-01-16T16:04:00.000-05:00

This is his new "pick me up MOMMA" pose

...proof

2009-01-16T16:01:00.000-05:00

I know it's blurry...he wasn't holding very still for me...

little man...

2009-01-14T22:46:00.000-05:00

Guess who decided today would be a good day to sit up for the first time? :)

Pictures tomorrow!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-28T11:01:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas! We were lucky enough to have our wonderful "Uncle" Jerry dress up as Santa and pose with the kids :)

Back in September he decided he was going to stop shaving and see what happened :) As Christmas drew closer, they decided he'd make a great "Santa!" As you can see, he did!!!

Thank you SOOOOOO much for sitting around in that hot suit so we could get some wonderful pictures!!! :)

Cici picked up the hats for the boys :)

All the boys with "Santa" :)

Mommy and Baby Camden...he's getting SOOOO big!

look out world...

2008-12-21T14:20:00.002-05:00

Here he comes...

Our precious baby boy revealed not one, but two new teeny tiny little white teeth yesterday.

I guess all Camden wanted for Christmas was his two front teeth :)

Anyone who has kids knows it's virtually impossible to get a photo of 1 day old teeth, but there will be one eventually...keep waiting :)

t.g.i.F.

2008-12-05T21:24:00.003-05:00

Did you say it's FRIDAY???

I just LOVE this picture!!!

2008-12-03T15:47:00.001-05:00

Unedited but still precious!

happy Thanksgiving baby :)

2008-12-02T20:36:00.000-05:00

picture of the day

2008-12-01T17:26:00.001-05:00

Still getting through all the pictures...here's one for the day :)

sifting through...

2008-11-30T23:57:00.003-05:00

We are home safe and sound. It has been a long day of getting settled for Camden and I and a long day at work for David.

We finally got home a little after 6:00 this morning after a VERY rough VERY long night!

Camden did great on the ride TO Tennessee, but the ride home was a COMPLETELY different story. He screamed almost the entire night and did not really go to sleep until we got on the Turnpike! (about 9 hours in to our 10 hour drive) I'm actually still amazed we all survived it.

It's late now and I'm off to bed. David isn't home from work yet.

I have TONS of pictures from Tennessee, but it is going to take me a while to sift through all of them. (Literally, over 400 pictures!)

We took loads of pictures of the whole family...so far, this is my favorite...

It really captures what happens when you mix brothers, coordinated outfits, bribery, and cameras! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-25T16:49:00.000-05:00

sucking on a ball point pen?

2008-11-20T18:25:00.006-05:00

We are in the unfortunate, lengthy process of moving.

UGH! I know I've said it before but I really can't stand moving...bottom line, we've got to be done by Sunday, because we are leaving then to go to Tennessee for Thanksgiving. Though we are very excited to get to Tennessee and enjoy our time with everyone, it's going to be a stressful few days leading up to our trip. :(

Here are a few pictures of Camden in the past few days...

I know I mentioned in my last post that Camden had Thrush, he's doing much better now! Thankfully. My funny story about the thrush is the OTC medication I used to help him heal up a little faster. Gentian Violet is funny stuff...it works wonders for Thrush, but it makes your baby look like they have sucked on an ink pen. The first time I tried it, I shook the bottle, not realizing it was open just a little and Camden and I were both turned immediately purple. Thus the subject of the first two pictures here...

Even purple, he's still precious! :)

Here he is in that awesome shirt from Aunt Ashley that we saw back in June

Here's a happy baby in his stroller

Camden is gone to stay with G-Mom and Grandy for a few nights. We are thankful to them, as always, for helping us out! He'll be coming home to a new house! :)

sweetness...

2008-11-15T21:20:00.001-05:00

I just had to steal this picture from my
Mom’s blog to share with you! :)

Camden with his cousins Benjamin and Warren

we are a family of sickies...

2008-11-14T09:14:00.002-05:00

I know it's been ages since I've updated.

Obviously things are just a little crazy trying to balance work and home.

Camden had a great couple of days staying with his CiCi...and eventually Poppie, down at their house in Parish. They brought him back to Orlando last Sunday and spent the day with us before Poppie flew out of Orlando very early Monday morning.

No one in our house is feeling great right now. Camden was the first to come down with a cold. I took him to the doctor on Tuesday...It worked out ok because I happened to be off work for Veteran's Day anyway. The doctor said on Tuesday there was nothing we could do. We should elevate the head of his mattress and make sure to suction out his nose a few times a day. He also mentioned it looked like he might have some Thrush . I didn't think much of it because I hadn't noticed any white spots in his mouth and explained to the Doctor he had a bottle just before we left the house. However, last night, as I was about to start feeding Camden, I noticed he most definitely is displaying signs of Thrush so I went ahead and called the Doctor first thing this morning. So far, I haven't heard anything back, which is supposed to mean they have called in some meds for him. I'm hoping that's the case...obviously, it's much harder to take him the Doctor on the spur of the moment now that I'm working!

David and I are both fighting colds as well...at this point I'm a little worse off than he is, but that's fine with me since he spends more time with Camden these days than I do.

Camden's babysitter, Rita, is working out so wonderfully! She just absolutely adores him and he adores her! It is such a wonderful situation and we are so thankful to have her!

We are currently in the process of moving and that's NEVER fun. We are moving to a different house in our same neighborhood and I'm just beyond dreading it! I have always hated moving, but I think every time before, I've found a reason to get excited about it...like I was looking forward to a fresh start. This time, I'm not. I don't want to be moving at all and there is so much to get done and so little time to do it in...not to mention, having a baby around on top of everything else. We have to be completely moved by the week of Thanksgiving. We are going to be in Tennessee that week so we have to be done with everything before we leave.

Speaking of coming to Tennessee, we have decided we will drive through the night to get there. Camden is sleeping through the night consistently and it just seems insane to drive during the day when he's going to be miserable being stuck in that seat and we'll have to be stopping every 3 hours to feed him. I think we'll just be better off to do without some sleep and arrive in Sparta on Monday morning...with plenty of people willing to watch Camden and let us get caught up on some sleep! I'm excited David is actually getting to come to Tennessee this time, it's been almost a year since he was there so I know he is looking forward to seeing everyone and getting to enjoy everything again! :)

So, this weekend is going to be spent nursing colds, thrush, and packing...don't you wish you were here!?!

Thanks so much for reading! I'll try to put up pictures soon!

...

2008-11-06T08:19:00.000-05:00

MOM!!!!

2008-11-05T12:47:00.001-05:00

Mommy! ... PLEASE QUIT LEAVING ME HOME WITH DADDY!!!

2008-10-29T07:12:00.002-04:00

Woo HOO

YIPEE

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Camden went to bed at 8:00 last night...it's 7:15 am and he's STILL asleep!!!

He finally slept straight through the night!!!

busy times

2008-10-24T16:39:00.002-04:00

ok ok, someone (hm hm...Aunt Evelyn) has informed me I'm slacking :)

So, here ya go!

After all, it is Friday...and my baby is sleeping! :)

Ok, work is INSANE! It's certainly going to take some getting used to...not just because I'm coming back after almost 5 months off, but because my kids are...well...there is really no delicate way to put it...extremely intensive! I come home exhausted every day from trying to protect myself and my students from each other! It's all ok though, it's just going to take us all some time to adjust to each other. These kids certainly take some serious time to adjust to changes in authority!

Camden has had a good week. He stayed with his Grandma Gege on Monday...Daddy was home with him on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and today he was home with his babysitter Rita. His normal schedule will now be home with Rita on Mondays and Fridays, Daddy on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Mommy and Daddy on Saturdays and Mommy on Sunday! He seems to be adjusting really well to me going back to work. All in all, he's less fussy everyday and I could not be happier to see him growing out of the Colic! :)

We visited with my sister and her family at disney last weekend (there are some pictures on her blog if you click her name). We had a lovely time celebrating Benjamin's birthday with them on Saturday and then Camden went to G-Mom and Grandy's for the WHOLE night!!! :)

It was my first night away from him and I think we both did pretty well! Thank you guys again so much for keeping him and giving us a much needed break! :)

Ok...I think that's enough talking for now, here are some random pictures from the last few weeks...

wow wow wow...

2008-10-20T22:41:00.001-04:00

Ok, running on three hours of sleep, just wanted to check in...
I went back to work today...(teaching autistic kids (K-2) for those who don't remember)
I've always been in special ed but this is my first year with this class. It was really interesting, to say the least!
I spent my ENTIRE day running, at break-neck speeds, after my students who literally run out of the classroom and around the school (which is a florida school so it's all outdoors, no indoor hallways = straight for the parking lot and into the road if I don't get them fast enough) and/or picking them up off the floor and attempting to get them to do their work!
My back is KILLING me...I just took on of the Rx ibuprofin they gave me when I had Camden...after I got back from the mall where I bought a new pair of running shoes, that is!
ahh...I love my job :)

So cute it's scary...

2008-10-13T16:35:00.003-04:00

Thank you G-Mom for my precious Halloween outfit!

quick update

2008-10-07T19:23:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update...I've been slacking on the blogging this week.

Camden did great at his Doctor's appointment. He weighed 12lbs. 2oz. He was 23 inches long. His Doctor said he looks "perfect." He got all his shots and they did them really quickly so he didn't stay upset for long. He slept for almost 24 hours after his shots...so, that was a really nice break...didn't last long. :) He had a few doses of Tylenol over the course of the next few days, but he's all better now!

We are leaving again tomorrow for our 2nd trip to Tennessee. One of my dear friends from college is getting married this weekend so I'm excited about being able to be there. I am SO sad that David will not be able to make this trip with us either. :(

He is still been working tons and getting more and more shifts as a bartender, so we are happy about that.

Camden has not been sleeping well at all for the past few days. At night, we've had no problems, but he has only been taking 4 to 5 naps that last 30-45 minutes. :( Hopefully a trip back to CiCi and Poppie's will get him all straightened out! :)

However, I must say, he slept one 7 hour stretch last night...that was pretty nice! :)

I need to go and get packed now! We've got an early morning tomorrow!

Tomorrow...

2008-10-01T19:46:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow is Camden's 2 month Doctor's appointment...aka, the day he gets his first shots! :(

I'm REALLY not looking forward to it. Also, not looking forward to the appointment I have at 9 am with my Doctor for my thrush. :(

It will be a busy day but I'll do my best to update before bedtime.

SMILE...for the camera! (despite what you're wearing)

2008-10-01T19:29:00.004-04:00

Let me first say, I had NOTHING to do with the outfit my poor sweet boy was forced to wear for these pictures!

I simply stood idly by as his father dressed him...I didn't think I should put up a fight, in front of the baby and all :)

Anyway, the point is...we captured our first "social smile" on "film" (not sure how to say that anymore since we rarely use film...doesn't sound right to say we captured it on memory card...oh well, moving on...)

I was THRILLED we finally got a real real real smile and so happy I was standing there just armed with the camera as if I knew it was about to happen :)

Camden's daddy started talking to him and he just looked right back at his Daddy and gave him a HUGE smile! Of course, he was looking at his dad, so that means not the camera. :)

Instantly following my elation about this new fantastic photo was my extreme disappointment that THIS is the outfit he is wearing in the picture that will HAVE to be included in the scrapbook of his life! Ugh!

Oh well, we got a smile and it is super cute!

peek-a-boo...or a new hat?

2008-10-01T19:22:00.003-04:00

Camden was playing on his play mat the other day and it was just too cute...

The thing he has over his head makes a "crinkley" noise when you move it around.

I was working around the house and walked into the living room to see him like this...

I think he had a hard time deciding if he should wear it as a hat...

...or just play peek-a-boo with it...

Either way...it's precious! :)

Happy Birthday G-Mom!!!

2008-09-25T21:21:00.002-04:00

Camden went to visit his G-Mom at work today for her birthday...

Happy Birthday G-Mom!!!

Grandy was there too... :) Camden kept on smiling for his Grandy! It was soooooo cute!

Tennessee

2008-09-24T16:37:00.009-04:00

Here are some pictures from our trip to Tennessee

Camden meeting his great grandmother, Mamaw

And then meeting my his great grandfather, Poppa

Camden with his aunt Susie (great-great aunt) :)

And his great-great Aunt Dianne

Cousins Angel and Sophie

Camden with his Poppie

With CiCi after his bath

Camden with his future best friend Dylin...My dear friend Lindsey's little boy who you may remember was born on Davids birthday...he is 34 days older than Camden

Me with Dylin :)

makeover...

2008-09-24T00:37:00.000-04:00

I gave the blog a makeover.

What do you think?

I got my hair cut...

2008-09-19T16:29:00.001-04:00

So, while in Tennessee, I decided to get a MUCH needed haircut...

Turns out, after 4 years of barely cutting it at all, I had enough to donate it yet again...Just like I did 4 years ago :)

Here's what we did with what I had left...

no time...

2008-09-19T10:35:00.001-04:00

No real time to update now...please check out my Mom's blog to see what we've been up to :)

how cool is this?

2008-09-16T23:05:00.002-04:00

I just found this website that will make a book out of your blog...

For example, I could make a scrapbook for Camden of this blog and he would have a hard copy of it forever and ever!

I'm impressed! Very impressed! :)

http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook

In other news, Camden and I leave in the morning for Tennessee! We are super excited to see everyone there and Camden can't wait to finally meet his Mamaw and Poppa...not to mention his great great aunts and uncles and cousins! Ah...fun times :)

I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous about taking a 7 week old baby on a plane! :) However, if we get him started early, hopefully he won't have any problems with it later on. Lets face it, the kid is going to be flying a lot. :)

Don't know if I'll have time to blog from Tennessee, but I'll be armed with plenty of pictures when I get home :)

Meanwhile, David has the yucky job of stay home so he can work and take care of the house and the dogs :(...we are really going to miss him!

super cute

2008-09-13T18:42:00.003-04:00

The ever popular "sideways glance"

Falling over but I love the look on his face

and this is how he feels about having his picture taken when he's still hungry! :)

pictures...

2008-09-10T17:20:00.002-04:00

Got this picture this morning of my boys cuddling in bed :)

Camden...sleeping in his sweetpeace, as usual! I'm dying to get this kid back in his cradle!

*********************

We all know, by now, I love my baby's toes...we debated, at length, when he was born the fact that they could be "my" toes or "Daddy's" toes because we both have really long toes...

However, David possesses the ability to PINCH with his toes...and I mean REALLY pinch! It hurts...This morning, Camden decided to demonstrate the same ability! He pinched my stomach while I was trying to burp him!

David said he did the same thing to his arm last week...I guess we know who's toes they are after all :)

Now, on to the story of these pictures...We were both napping today and I rolled over to take a look at my baby and I see two toes...just sticking out through the holes in his blanket...

It was too cute...he only had one foot sticking out when I finally got the camera out, but I needed to share.

(ps...he says thank you to Elizabeth for making him such a beautiful blanket!)

medicine...

2008-09-09T18:26:00.002-04:00

In the interest of keeping everyone updated, I just wanted to say, we started Camden on his reflux meds last night.

My new "Dairy Free Diet" has worked WONDERS for his fussiness. He is literally a TOTALLY different baby! However, he is still having some obvious issues with his reflux...moaning and groaning in his sleep and still unable to lay in his cradle at night...

So, I felt like it would be best to go ahead and get him started on the meds.

It was a rough night last night and has been a long day today...he just has not been sleeping much AT ALL!

Hopefully he'll be too worn out tonight to stay up...he's in the middle of his longest nap of the day now...He's been down for about 2 hours!

I'll keep you updated, as always.

"Meet the baby" party

2008-09-07T12:33:00.004-04:00

We had a lovely (surprise) get together at G-Mom and Grandy's yesterday.

:) We all had a wonderful time, especially Camden.

He got to go swimming for the first time, and he got to meet his Aunt Theresa too. Not to mention he got some wonderful gifts. :)

Here are the pictures I have for now...

Camden and Mommy in the pool

Camden with Daddy and Mommy.

Camden with his Great-Grandma Gege

Can't believe how tiny these sweet shoes are!

Opening gifts...Dad kept wearing his hats.

Mom was super excited about the Jazzy Toes socks!!!

Daddy was SUPER excited about the "Braves" outfits! (yeah, he got TWO)

Camden with his Aunt Theresa

Camden finally got a nap...and his Daddy just HAD to put his new shoes on him! :)

Just so you know...

2008-09-04T15:04:00.002-04:00

This is how Camden was sleeping in his sweetpeace the other day.

He's such a little man!

He's still doing really well. I'm still feeling like he's gonna end up needing the medicine, but for now, the formula is really helping loads.

I really miss sleeping in my bed, because I've been on the couch so I can be in the living room with him...so he can sleep in his sweetpeace.

He's a really good baby all over again and it's still a beautiful thing! :)

HAPPY BABY!

2008-09-03T09:31:00.002-04:00

I have a happy baby again! I had honestly forgotten what it was like for him to just be content!

We had a wonderful night, he went right back to sleep after every feeding...and didn't wake up "for good" until 8:30!!! AMAZING...

He's sitting here next to me now, just looking around...he has given himself the hiccups, but other than that, he's doing SOOO well.

He is still having issues with my breast milk, it obviously doesn't make him feel as good as the formula does.

I'm working on the whole "eliminating milk thing"...I'm gonna have to go to the special grocery store to get some necessities... :(

p.s.

2008-09-02T21:41:00.002-04:00

our little porker is up to 9 lbs. 4 oz.

and I don't think I fully realized how challenging it is to cut dairy out of your diet...(not totally sure if I mentioned that earlier...it's supposed to help when your breastfeeding a baby that is having reflux issues)...but anyway, suddenly I've discovered I love all things dairy...and everything in my house, that I'm willing to eat has some form of dairy in it...I need to do some grocery shopping.

verdict is in...

2008-09-02T16:44:00.002-04:00

Reflux...

The doctor said he could not have written a more text book description of reflux...

He explained why it happens and that it's pretty common in newborns. He didn't want to put him on meds just yet (but I know he's too severe...that'll be our next step). He changed the formula we are supplementing with and also said he has to remain upright 30 minutes after eating.

He also said to keep letting him sleep in his swing...so now I won't feel guilty about it!

We're gonna give it 5 days with this new formula and keeping him upright, but if there is no improvement by then, all we have to do is call and the Doc will call in his meds.

100...

2008-09-02T12:15:00.005-04:00

I'm pretty sure you're supposed to do something special for your 100th post...but I'm just putting up random pictures!

Ben and Camden...so sweet

Camden playing on his mat

Warren decided to play on Camden's mat :)

They were posing together...just one INSTANT before I was able to snap the picture...Warren was ready to go!

Jessica got to feed him :)

slacker

2008-09-02T11:31:00.002-04:00

I know I've been slacking...I am totally aware.

I'm also totally deserving of the time I have taken off.

Simply put, my baby has not been sleeping! Every time I lay him down in his cradle, no matter how asleep he is seconds before I put him down, he wakes up screaming. I don't mean crying, I mean screaming...bloody murder screaming! It doesn't subside, he continues to scream until I pick him back up.

It has made for some really rough days and nights lately.

I'm not sure what is wrong, but I know something isn't right. We are wondering if he might be having a problem with reflux. We have a doctor's appointment today so hopefully we'll have some answers.

From what I've read about reflux, one thing you can do is keep the baby's head elevated while they sleep...so, we tried something different. We put Camden in his Graco Sweetpeace to sleep. Oh sweet glorious sleep! We got sleep! It was amazing. He only woke up 3 times to eat and each time he went right back to sleep! I cannot tell you how wonderful that felt. I am not exaggerating when I say I had not had more than one hour of sleep at a time for the past 3 days.

I'll update again later...after the doctor.

announcing...

2008-08-28T15:34:00.004-04:00

Okay, I'm working on our birth announcements. I know, I'm a little behind.

I had a little "photo shoot" with my sleeping baby today!

Here are some of the sweet pictures I got! :)

4 weeks...

2008-08-27T13:46:00.001-04:00

4 weeks ago today this precious little boy came into our lives...

Look...

2008-08-27T10:06:00.002-04:00

...At these precious bibs and burp clothes

(Thanks to Ms. Terri)

I really LOVE personalized stuff :) It's too cute!

Look at this precious Bible

(Thanks to Ms. Martha)

New Videos

2008-08-26T21:23:00.000-04:00

I added some new (and old) videos...links are to the right...enjoy

UP all day...down ALL night? :)

2008-08-26T20:37:00.014-04:00

...Wishful thinking I'm sure!

Camden has literally been awake all day today! He woke up at 8 this morning and has taken 3 hour long naps all day!!! (he usually takes at least 2 three hour naps!)

I'm hoping and praying it just means he's gonna sleep all night...but I'm pretty sure I'm wrong! I guess we'll see.

Camden did pose for some pictures just for his Mamaw today! We hope you feel much better very soon and we are looking forward to our trip to see you in September!!! :)

He really looked at this toy today! :)

Such a BIG yawn!!!

Look who came to visit...

2008-08-24T20:46:00.001-04:00

Camden's G-Mom and Grandy came to visit today...

He slept through their entire visit...but I know he was glad to see them :)

Now if I could just get him to sleep like that at night!

I looked in the mirror and what did I see?...

2008-08-24T20:44:00.002-04:00

...ME!...

and I'm pretty darn cute! :)

FINALLY!!!

2008-08-20T12:17:00.002-04:00

LOOK WHAT MY MOMMY AND DADDY WOKE UP TO THIS MORNING...

MY BELLY BUTTON!!!! :)

We miss you CiCi

2008-08-19T19:41:00.002-04:00

CiCi left yesterday to go to her "Florida Home"...She will still be in the state until Saturday. We took these pictures with baby Camden before she left.

We have missed her today and are very thankful to have had her here with us for so long! She was a HUGE help!!!!

random stuff...

2008-08-19T19:25:00.002-04:00

looking at himself in the mirror

I love Mommy...

...but I've got NO love for the flash!!!

Fay

2008-08-19T15:57:00.003-04:00

It's Camden's first Tropical Storm! :)

And mine too for that matter! Seems like I had to wait a little bit longer in life than he did huh?

It's almost 4:00 pm and we really haven't had much bad weather all day. In the last 30 minutes the wind has really picked up and the rain is really blowing around. Doesn't seem too much worse than our typical afternoon thunderstorms (which do tend to be pretty severe). However, it's almost cold outside and the difference between this and our normal storms is that they end rather quickly.

We aren't sure how much longer it's going to be raining, but it will not stop anytime soon!

David had to go into work today which Camden and I are less than thrilled about...but such is life.

Poppie came to visit!

2008-08-18T10:36:00.006-04:00

Poppie came to visit!

He had his ticket scheduled just in time to be here for Camden's due date...which was Yesterday! :) Of course, Camden is almost 3 weeks old now.

He was thrilled to meet his Poppie and even stayed awake for a little bit and looked around and grunted and groaned as his Poppie held him.

Poppie with all 3 of his sweet grandsons!

All three boys...You'll notice, Warren was ready to get on the move again! (as usual)

Ben is SOOOOO sweet with Warren. He hugged and kissed him, held him, even told him stories and made up a song for him!

Poppie and Ben in the pool.

Didn't get a good picture of Warren...he wouldn't stop moving! :)

Camden did some sun bathing. (We're still trying to get rid of that last little bit of yellow)

He posed for CiCi while Poppie held him.

monkeys...toes...and a bed time story

2008-08-14T20:26:00.003-04:00

prepare for the cuteness...

2008-08-13T19:59:00.004-04:00

you've been warned...

chillin'

2008-08-11T21:00:00.003-04:00

Camden's first days...in pictures...

2008-08-09T17:33:00.009-04:00

This is the hospital where I was born

This is the last picture of my Mommy before she had me

This is my first picture

This is me with my Daddy...this is what he did most of the time we were in the hospital.

Napping with Daddy...AGAIN

This is Mommy carrying me out of the hospital.

This is my first time in my car seat.

Going for my first ride in the car! :)

This is my cousin Ben. He came to visit and help me come home.

Ben really likes me...

He even made me a birthday cake! He put on the sprinkles all by himself!

Then I slept some more...

I made some funny faces...

And then I slept some more...

After my sponge bath I got to wear my towel from G-mom...It has my name on it :)

Then I got dressed to go to my first Doctor's appointment...

I was wrapped up in my beautiful blanket that my Nannie made for me...

These are the sweet flowers Grandma GeGe sent me in the hospital...

These are the flowers from Ms. Brooke :) Thank you!

I finally got to meet my cousin Warren...he and Ben brought me toys! :)

Ben decided to hold me this visit...

Warren got to hold me too...he was very sweet to me...

but I'm not sure what happened here... :)

Mommy really wanted me to keep my eyes open for some pictures...

So I did...but I'm not a fan of the flash!

This is my CiCi...she held me today to take a picture with me...

And after it all...I need some more sleep! :)

as usual...

2008-08-09T11:48:00.003-04:00

I know our pictures are a little redundant...but he's just too cute in this little sleeper from his G-mom and Grandy! :)

He's ALWAYS sleeping! (but I promise...that ALL changes when the sun goes down!)

I do have some awake pictures...I'm terrible these days about dumping pictures from the camera!

sleepy baby...

2008-08-08T10:12:00.003-04:00

He still hasn't figured out the whole "sleep at night...stay awake during the day" thing.

Here are a few pictures of him sleeping this morning. :)

He has this sweet habit of wrinkling his little forehead...I happen to think it's the cutest thing ever! :)

2008-08-06T19:43:00.005-04:00

We have had a great rest of the day...We took our boy and had lunch at Unos...(where David works). It was DELICIOUS, as always, and Camden slept through the entire meal.

He has done well today. He still isn't fussing much at all...he does a great job of letting us know when he needs a clean diaper or wants some more to eat...but other than that, he's a pretty quiet baby! :) No complaints here.

Here are your pictures of the day...

I know it's not a "real" smile...but how cute is this? I just happened to capture this one as we got in the car this morning! :)

This is what Camden was doing...the entire time we ate our yummy lunch :)

a pretty good night

2008-08-06T10:21:00.002-04:00

We had a pretty good night last night. He slept 3 hours then 1 hour then another 3. It was really nice getting those 3 hour spurts (keep in mind...when I say "slept 3 hours" I mean he went 3 hours between feedings...which means I slept 2 hours.)

I'm off to take a nap now. We are planning on running up to David's work a little later to show him off a little. :)

I'll put up pictures of the day later!

a few more

2008-08-05T21:00:00.003-04:00

we got a little behind...

2008-08-05T09:37:00.003-04:00

please forgive me...our internet has been down for a few days...the repairman just left and all is well again! :)

Camden had his first Doctor's appointmennt yesterday...he said he's "perfect"...that's good enough for us! :)

We had a house full yesterday with CiCi, Nannie, Ashley, Ben, and Warren. We really enjoyed the company and were sad to see them go.

We spent our first night alone together as a family last night and it was a success. Camden ate every two - two and a half hours and he didn't fuss at all in between...It was a good night!

Here are some pictures of our sweet baby!

Sorry...no time to add captions...it's taken me 3 hours to get this post up as it is! :)

after a LONG night...

2008-08-02T10:17:00.003-04:00

We had a ROUGH night last night. We fed Camden and we all tried to go to bed around 1:00. Camden let us sleep for all of 15 minutes before he decided he didn't want to be in his crib by himself. He was just really unhappy about EVERYTHING! We checked his diaper and he was FINALLY dirty...we'd been waiting for that ALL day (because of his "jaundice" status...we really needed a dirty diaper). We were very excited. We got up and changed him and I went ahead and tried to feed him again. He really latched on well and ate for about 30 minutes. I really thought he would just go right to sleep after all that food...I was REALLY wrong. Every time we put him down he cried...he didn't want to be swaddled...he didn't want a paci...he didn't want to do anything but cry! Some time after 4:30 he finally cried himself out and went back to sleep. I'm pretty sure it was just gas...but it made for a REALLY rough night! He's much calmer this morning and has fed great twice he's sleeping now! :) I wish I was too!

CiCi is on the way! We are very excited to see her today. She arrived in Atlanta at 8:00 this morning with the rest of the mission team. I'm pretty sure she felt like a contestant on "The Amazing Race" as she tried to get on the first flight she could find to Orlando. She was so frustrated with the length of the lines she called my sister and Ashley had to book her a ticket over the internet while Mom was standing in the airport. :) All in all, she got her ticket and she is on a plane right now headed our way! She arrives at 12:10 and Camden is VERY excited to meet her! :)

Here are your pictures for the morning...

home sweet home!

2008-08-01T22:20:00.002-04:00

We are FINALLY home! Our precious baby boy was finally released from the hospital. It felt like we had been there FOREVER!!!

He is doing ok tonight. He certainly is a little yellow but our Doctor really wanted us to be able to get him home. So...we are working to get plenty of food in him...as best we can.

He has been SO tired today from all his testing...and then, of course, his circumcision. It has been really hard to wake him up and keep him up long enough to nurse well.

He did eat really well at his last feeding and hopefully he will get some rest and feel better tomorrow!

Here are the "cell phone" pictures of him on the way home. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get some time to put the "real" camera pictures on the computer!

good morning!

2008-08-01T08:47:00.001-04:00

This is the face I woke up to this morning! :) He just couldn't be any sweeter!

We are waiting to be discharged today...but they are evaluating him because they think he looks a little yellow (jaundiced) today. Hopefully, he'll be ok, we are just waiting on blood work results.

We are just eager to get our sweet baby boy home!!!

Our sweet baby! :)

2008-07-31T12:13:00.000-04:00

pictures...

2008-07-30T15:34:00.003-04:00

New Videos

2008-07-30T13:37:00.001-04:00

I have uploaded some of our videos to the Internet. Please check out the links on the right!

Camden Hollis

2008-07-30T05:49:00.002-04:00

Camden Hollis is here!!! He was born at 5:11am this morning weighing 7 lbs 5 oz and 20 3/4 inches long. He is precious! Because mom's water was broken for so long and because she had a temp (he did too) he is being taken to a transitional nursery to be given antibiotics and some labwork taken. Mom, Dad, Aunt, Grandparents, and Uncle are VERY tired. Will update when we know more.

2008-07-30T04:07:00.001-04:00

Complete and starting to push!!!

Allison Update

2008-07-29T23:58:00.000-04:00

Now 1-2 cms and have epidural!!! Getting comfortable.

Just a quick update!

2008-07-29T21:37:00.003-04:00

Hello! This is Ashley (Allison's sister). I have been with Allison and David all day. Her water broke around 7am this morning and she has been contracting REALLY good since about 3pm. She hasn't made a lot of progress but they will put her on low dose Pictocin tonight and try to get something to happen. Hopefully, we will have a baby in the morning. Feel free to check my blog for more updates!

and THIS is why Mondays are the hardest...

2008-07-28T15:37:00.004-04:00

I'll make this brief.

NO PROGRESS

NO CHANGE

I am so frustrated with my body's failure to do what it should be doing right now! I'm seriously pulling out all the stops on this kid...

Camden...consider THIS your eviction notice!!!

full term

2008-07-27T17:15:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to take a moment to say...We are officially FULL TERM!

My baby can come on out ANY time now! (Although my momma would really like for him to wait until she gets home from Brazil!)

I have my usual Doctor's appointment tomorrow at 2:00. Hopefully tomorrow won't be as disappointing as last week! Please pray for some progress! :)

I'll update again tomorrow.

nervous energy...

2008-07-26T14:13:00.002-04:00

Holy cow! I feel like I'm loosing it today!!!!

I literally feel like I'm going crazy trying to sit still. I'm cleaning, doing dishes, laundry, you name it. I think David is REALLY looking forward to going to work so he can "relax." :)

Mom and Dad are safe and sound in brazil...you can keep up with their trip by visiting the Mission Trip Site. The journal is really a "must read" in my opinion.

Just wanted to touch base and let you know how I'm feeling...Hopefully not too much longer now! :)

give away

2008-07-21T21:39:00.002-04:00

Check out this give away over at Scribble it ...very cool

monday is the hardest day...

2008-07-21T18:44:00.002-04:00

If you haven't figured it out by now, Monday is the day I (usually) go for my Doctor appointments.

I'm at the point now where I have to go once a week.

I think I have realized that Monday is the hardest day for me. There is something about having to go to the Doctor...looking forward to it all week...and then feeling let down because nothing has really changed.

They were not going to "check" me today but I requested very nicely that they do...and I was notified I'm not dilated at all. I was really hoping for SOME progress...

I really really REALLY think I will literally go insane if I have to carry this baby full term. I have really "hit my wall" this week where I am FINALLY really uncomfortable. I'm hot...I'm miserable...and I can't sleep at all!

Not to mention that I'm really just dying to hold my baby! David and I both are just feeling super impatient right now...

like I said...Monday is the hardest day...last week, Monday was hard too...but I felt better as the week went on.

I have a little more energy today than I have for the past two days...David had a NASTY little bug on Saturday morning and I'm not convinced I didn't have a touch of it too...I think it just made me really tired...which I'd take ANY day over what it did to him! He's feeling much better, by the way. :)

I worked 3 days last week in my classroom getting things unpacked and put away. It kept me busy and really got my mind off this waiting game... I plan on doing the same again this week. Hopefully I'll feel up to heading down that way tomorrow. It's nice to be able to go when I want/need to...but not having any real pressure to be there if I don't feel up to it.

last chance...

2008-07-20T16:26:00.002-04:00

Ok, I'm going to "lock" our online baby pool in about 48 hours.

If you want to make ANY changes to your guesses taking into account any recent information, you are welcome to...

You can indicate in the "who am I" section that it is guess #2 by including "#2" after your name and I will go through and delete your first guess...if you like.

Just trying to be fair :)

To those of you who STILL haven't guessed...now would be the time :)

Remember...just click in the "expectnet" box to the right of this post and it will take you directly to our game :)

the roof, the roof, the roof is...you know the rest right?

2008-07-19T22:16:00.004-04:00

So...most of you already know...Billy's house burned today. We are very sad for he and his family and just so thankful that they all made it out of the house and everyone is ok.

I do have some pictures from the inside of the house (David took them) but there aren't many and they are on my camera...I'll post more tomorrow.

This is best I could I do with the pictures...not that you didn't see it on the news.

days, weeks, months...

2008-07-17T21:56:00.002-04:00

Everyone who knows anything about pregnancy understands at least the basic concept of trimesters. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimesters made up of "3 months" each.

We often refer to pregnancy length in months. In all actuality, you can ask any pregnant woman out there in the world how many "months" along she is and (unless she's already sat down to figure that up this week) it's probably going to take her a minute to figure out the answer.

See...pregnancy is actually timed in weeks. Always weeks and nothing but weeks. We are technically pregnant for 40 weeks (although we aren't ACTUALLY pregnant for the first two). If you break it down to 4 weeks a month...then...yep, you figured it out...we are actually pregnant for 10 months. I realize it's all so confusing to our convention minds that have always been taught that human gestation is a 9 month process.

So...your "estimated due date" is 40 weeks into this whole pregnancy thing BUT your baby is actually considered to be "full term" at 37 weeks. So babies that are born 3 weeks "early" are viewed, in the medical world, as being fully developed functioning babies.

Most doctors will induce at 37 weeks or perform a c-section at 37 weeks...they just don't really hesitate to bring a baby on into the world at 37 weeks.

I don't know when Camden will be making his entrance into the world...but hopefully...once we hit the 37 week mark (the last week of July) he'll be ready to come on!

I'm still feeling good. I'm actually feeling better than I have been. He finally "dropped" this week (also know as "Lightening"). So I am FINALLY able to breath easily again and I actually have a stomach for my food to go into! :) I still don't know if my body is making any other progress because my doctor chose not to check me just yet. Either way...we are inevitably getting VERY close. While I would LOVE to have a date (being the "control freak" that I am)...we don't. This is one surprise that even I can't snoop around and find out. That's a hard lesson for me to learn...but a good one :)

average

2008-07-14T19:23:00.002-04:00

We are home, and the results are in.

Our baby, by all indications, (at this point in time) is totally and completely average! His current weight is estimated at 5.6 lbs.

The rule of weight gain from here on out is 1/2 to 1 lb. a week. So...he should be a good healthy size...but PERHAPS not the size of a "Thanksgiving Turkey."

We talked a bit about induction...possibly 2 weeks early (38 weeks)...but my doctor will NOT induce if my body isn't "ready." He was very clear about not putting me in danger.

So...there you go. There is your update and we are back the the "waiting game."

We are just SOOOOOO ready to hold our baby!!!!

35 week ultrasound

2008-07-12T21:04:00.005-04:00

Our 35 week ultrasound is coming up!

I'm getting super impatient to see what they have to say! Hopefully on Monday (at 2:oo) we will have a much better idea of when and how our baby boy will arrive.

The Doctor may decide to do nothing. We just won't know until we get some indication of just how big baby Camden is right now.

Of course, I'll keep you updated!

P.S. You can vote on how big you think the ultrasound will say baby Camden is on Monday.

*hint* the average baby at 35 weeks gestation is 5.5 lbs ***

d.o.n.e. DONE!

2008-07-10T14:21:00.003-04:00

The crib is assembled...the letters are painted and hung! It's all set and ready for baby!!! :)

I can't believe we are FINALLY ready!

it's a miracle!

2008-07-09T21:04:00.001-04:00

My laptop is working again! I'm so excited!!! :) I don't know what happened...I just tried plugging it in...yet again...and suddenly it came on! :) Good stuff!!!

looking good...

2008-07-09T15:26:00.006-04:00

We are ALMOST totally done with the house!

Yay!
I do not think I could be more excited about what we have accomplished! I know I could not have done it without Mom’s help! She has worked so hard the entire time she has been here.
I keep telling her that when she leaves I’m not going to be able to get out bed for an entire day! She has more energy than should be humanly possible! (As far as I’m concerned, it isn’t humanly possible!)

So…here are the pictures so we can share what we’ve done with all of you who aren’t here to see it.

As I said, we are “almost” done…David is planning to assemble the crib tomorrow…that is all that is missing from the nursery. The room we used is TINY and it has never felt SO small as it does now! So, in with adding all this furniture to our house, the entire space has had to be “revamped.” We even had to move my dresser into the living room/dining room space. My mom says it’s called a “credenza” and that it’s perfectly okay to have such furniture in this room. I went with it, and…it really doesn’t look bad!

We are still planning on getting a queen sized bed and moving our full sized bed into the “office” so when we have guests, they will actually have a place to sleep! (That will be really nice.) So, we went ahead and measured out room for the furniture changes and the set up shouldn’t have to be changed much at all from where we have it now! Yay for less work!
Okay, you’ve waited long enough…here are ALL the pictures!

This is the living/dining space with the "credenza" :)

This is Camden's closet. I'm pretty sure he has NOTHING to wear!
We still have a "little" stack of things in the corner of the nursery...including the crib bedding...still waiting for the crib :)
This is where the crib will go. Please note the precious dalmation (Ozzy) nightlight.
Camden's stuffed puppies :)
Diaper changing table...fully stocked, I might add, and the letters on top WILL BE hung on the wall (with brown ribbon) above his crib.
Here's the new office set up. I don't know if I mentioned that my mac laptop (FINALLY) gave up the ghost last week...so, this is the new set up Tyler was kind enough to transport down from Tennesee for us!
Yes, the nursery "over flows" a little into the office/guest room. The cradle will likely be in our bedroom for the first few weeks.
The corner of the nursery again.
Changing table again...you can see the glider in the corner. (Did I mention the room is TINY?)

The "baby" part of the office/guest room. That "swing thing" is the new Graco sweetpeace. It might just be the coolest thing EVER!

p.s. anybody out there want some fish?

everything looks good

2008-07-07T22:16:00.002-04:00

I know I said I'd update today.

I also know it's late. I'm tired and off to bed soon.

I did see the Doctor today and he said everything looks fine. My blood pressure was back down and there are no problems or warning signs.

He said for me to keep talking it easy...but also said he would recommend that to anyone who is at these "end stages" of pregnancy.

So, Mom is still here. We have really accomplished a ton. I'm so thankful for her time here.

That's all for now! :) Take care!

all is (still) well

2008-07-06T15:47:00.004-04:00

Just wanted to check in again!

I'm still doing well and feeling just fine. Mom is still here. She and Ashley came up yesterday (Saturday) morning.

We have gotten lots accomplished. I can't even begin to call it "bedrest" with all I've been trying to do. Mom has really helped tons and tons though (and they have TRIED to make me rest as much as possible.) Ashley helped a ton yesterday too but had to get home to her sweet baby boy last night. (She'll be back tomorrow for my Doctor's appointment.)

We have finished painting the nursery and even got the curtains hung.

It's coming along. David is going to assemble the crib on Thursday (his next day off) and we'll hopefully have the room all set up then! :)

It is exciting! It's all finally happening. We're gonna have a baby in no time!
I'll update again after my appointment tomorrow afternoon.

home...and just fine!

2008-07-03T17:05:00.001-04:00

We are home...

It has been a bit of a crazy day. I went to the doctor this morning, as requested, and they sent me to the hospital to run some tests.

EVERYTHING CAME BACK FINE!

I am fine! I'm on bedrest for the time being. David is hard at work on the nursery! :)

I'll keep you updated!