A Birthday 2 Year Old Style

Cameron's birthday was so much fun this year! Here is how the day went...

She was obviously very excited about all the birthday goodies that greeted her when she woke up and came downstairs!

And Sydney was pretty excited too.

Cameron had fun opening her presents.

 And was really excited about her new Knuffle Bunny books.

She was a little hesitant about her new bike, but did test it out for a few seconds.

Then Cameron and Sydney caught up on some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while Ryan and I made breakfast.

This is what a two year olds birthday breakfast looks like. Surprisingly, she was the most excited about the bacon!

Then she picked out her favorite pink dress to wear and sat down to color a few pictures.

While she was coloring we put Sydney in the jumper for the first time. She really liked it!

Cameron thought it looked like fun too, so we put up our other jumper so she could bounce around too.

Then we went outside and Ryan taught Cameron how to pack and throw snowballs. She actually did pretty well!

After that we walked over to the park.

And played.

Daddy had fun playing too.

When we started getting tired we headed back home for lunch. Cameron had a heart shaped sandwich. Yum!

Then I worked on the Minnie Mouse cupcakes and Cameron took a nap. (I don't even want to tell you what my kitchen looked like!)

After her nap the birthday girl got cleaned up and ready for her party. Papa, Mimi, Superpop, Granne and Uncle Ross all came over for dinner.

Superpop and Granne showed up with a new wagon, so Cameron and Sydney jumped in and took it for a spin.

We had baked ziti for dinner... and cupcakes for dessert! Here's the birthday girl blowing out her candles (Mommy and Daddy helped!)

Then it was time to open more presents. Cameron got a lot of really cool stuff. Thank you everyone!

By the end of the day we were all ready for bed, but a fun time was had by all.

My Loves

I have three loves in my life:

Jesus Christ

My Husband

My Girls

Seeing as it's Valentine's Day and all, I thought I'd talk a little bit about these loves of my life.

God's love for us is compared to a father's love for his children over and over again in scripture. Now that I'm a mother, I have such a better understanding of what that really means. The love I have for my girls is so strong, I couldn't possibly imagine what my life would be like without them and if anything was ever to happen to either one of them I would be completely crushed. To think that God's love for me is like that, but much more is just overwhelming. I am so blessed to be one of God's children.

Ryan and I have been together for over 6 years now. It's funny to think about how little I really knew about his when we got married. But God had a plan, and I have definitely benefited from that plan. The more and more I learn about Ryan the more I love him. He is an incredible person, a hard worker and he has a huge heart. I love sharing my life with him. My heart melts when I watch him interact with our girls. To me he is the most perfect man in the whole world and I'm glad I can call him mine.

Cameron and Sydney are more wonderful than I could have ever imagined, and to think that they are my little girls just takes my breath away. I could not be more blessed to be their mommy. I could just sit and look at their sweet faces all day long and never get sick of it. I find such joy in taking care of them, teaching them, watching them grow and become their own little people. When I look at them I know that God is real because each one of them is truly a miracle.  

Happy Valentine's Day My Loves!

Miss Cameron is Two!

It's February 13 and that means our little Cameron is two! I can hardly believe it. I absolutely love being her mommy. I seriously wouldn't trade it for anything in the whole world. I'm so blessed to be able to stay home with her everyday and watch her learn and grow. She is the perfect combination of sweet and spunky, which makes me smile...and pull my hair out...but mostly just smile.

We had Cameron's two year wellness check with the doctor last Thursday and she is doing great. She's very healthy and meeting all the 2 year milestones. She weighs 24 pounds, 1 ounce (42nd percentile), she's 35.5 inches tall (88th percentile), and her head circumference is 48 centimeters (72nd percentile). So basically she's still tall and skinny.

So Cameron, what are you up to at two years old?

• You love to dance and be silly, play outside, sing, read books, color, watch movies and shows, swim, "drive" the car, talk on the phone, help clean
• Your favorite foods and drinks are noodles, goldfish, cheese, rice, juice and chocolate milk.
• You are very opinionated and don't hesitate to tell us exactly what you do and do not want.
• You love your little sister and are very proud to tell people about her.
• You love "Mouse!" a.k.a. Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Anything Mickey and Minnie is a big hit including books, toys, shows, decorations, etc.
• You are talking extremely well. You can communicate very clearly and are putting together more and more sentences everyday.
• You are very sweet and give kisses and cuddle, when you're in the mood.
• You are very attached to your "Phire" a.k.a. pacifier. We're really not looking forward to breaking you of it.
• You're favorite movies are Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Tangled and Toy Story 3.
• You're favorite TV shows are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.
• You absolutely love books, and to be honest you read such a variety of them I can't even list your favorites.
• You are very beautiful little girl, people are constantly telling us how cute your are!
• You love older kids. Whenever you see them you are fascinated by them and when you have the chance, you love to join in their games.
• You are very smart, which is a good thing, but definitely keeps your daddy and I on our toes.
• You are getting very good at counting. You can count to five and then kind of keep going to 10 (it usually is something like this 5, 6, 8, 10).
• You're favorite outfit is a pink dress that I got for $1.50 at a consignment sale. Every time you see it you ask to put it on and if it goes into the wash, you get upset.

Cameron, you are such a joy! You're daddy and I are so incredibly blessed by you and we are so thankful that God has given us such a wonderful little girl to raise. We pray every single day that God guides and directs us a we parent you so that you grow up to be a woman of strong character who knows and loves the Lord. We love you so very much Peanut!

How is it possible that this was already two years ago?

  Happy Birthday Toots!

Four Months Old!

Sydney is four months old!

 February 11, 2012

Weight: 14 pounds, 5 ounces

Length: 25 inches

Head: 41.5 centimeters

Our little sweet pea Sydney is 4 months old! She is getting to be such a big girl, I can’t believe it. It’s fun to watch her slowly come into her personality.

Sydney had her 4 month check up on Thursday. The doctor said she looks great! She is very healthy and is pretty average in size: 54th percentile for weight, 75th percentile for length and 77th percentile for head circumference.

So Sydney, what are you up to at 4 months old?

• You had your surgery at Children’s Hospital on January 12. Hopefully that’s the last time you ever have to stay in the hospital.
• You are a fantastic sleeper, sleeping from about 9 or 9:30pm all the way through the night until between 7 and 8am.
• You are usually a big cat naper, but recently we’ve be trying to be a little more intentional about having you go down for naps at about 9 or 9:30am, noon, and then again sometime in the afternoon/early evening. If we swaddle you in your bed you do a great job with your naps.
• You learned to roll over from your back to your tummy and you love to show off your new skill.
• You love to be held. You’ll let pretty much anyone hold you without complaining.
• You are a great eater. You eat 5 times a day now (7:30am, 11:00am, 2:30pm, 5:30pm, 9:00pm). We actually just dropped your 6th daily feeding (11:00pm) a few days ago and you seem to be adjusting really well.
• You are an extremely happy baby, always smiling and laughing at us and your big sister.
• You have gotten really interactive, talking and cooing at us all the time.
• You are getting really strong. You can hold you head up really well and you can sit in your bumbo chair for more than a few seconds at a time.
• You are wearing 6 months cloths and size 2 diapers.
• You loved to ride in the Baby Bjorn carrier. I carry you on walks, to the park, around the house when I’m cleaning or cooking, in the store, etc.
• You are so darn sweet! It’s so much fun to talk and cuddle with you. We are so lucky to have you as our little girl.

Snow Day

Last Friday we got a mini snow storm. All the schools in the area were closed, and so was Ryan's office! Which meant we got to have a fun snow day with Daddy! Here's how things went down:

Cameron was excited to see all the snow out the window when she woke up...and she was even more excited that Daddy was home.

In honor of the snow day, we made a special pancake breakfast. Cameron helped with the mixing and was pretty stoked that we made her a Mickey Mouse pancake.

Sydney crashed while we were making breakfast. All this snow day business was making her tired!

After breakfast we watched Monsters vs. Aliens, a cute animated movie that had showed up from Netflix the night before. About 3/4 of the way though the movie, Cameron decided to throw her cup on the floor, which lead to a 15 minute Mommy vs. Cameron "battle of the wills". We literally went back and forth to time out about 10 times before she decided she would pick up the cup and take it to Daddy in the kitchen.

Once the movie was over it was time to bundle up and hit the snow. Cameron and Ryan made an awesome little snowman! Sydney and I mostly provided moral support.

Then it was back inside for lunch and naps. Playing in the snow is a lot of work! After her nap, Cameron made a b-line for the iPad (she is seriously addicted to the thing, ugh!) and put on a movie. Yes, she knows how to work it all by herself, we've created a monster!. (Mac, notice the Basset shirt!)

Fortunately, we were able to lure her away from the iPad with the idea of a dance party, which turned out to be pretty darn awesome!

And that pretty much covers the highlights of our day. It really was a fun family day. :) 

Miss Sydney

As you all know, Sydney is now rolling over! It cracks me up because she loves to do it over and over and over. Every time I leave her for a few seconds I come back and she is on her tummy again. She hasn't quite figured out how to go from her tummy to her back yet, so we have to help her out a little bit, but I'm sure it won't be long before she figures that out too.

Sydney slept in her room all by her self for the very first time last night. I know, I know, she's almost 4 months old...it's about time. I never intended to have her sleep in our room for that long, but it just kind of happened that way. She did great. Didn't wake up once the whole night!

This is Sydney's new favorite position—hands behind her head. It totally cracks me up.

We had a follow up appointment with Sydney's surgeon today. He said everything is looking really good and she is healing up nicely. Yay! We'll have to go in and see him again in 4 to 6 weeks so he can check her out again and make sure everything is continuing to progress well. This was a picture we took of her today at the appointment. She looks like such a big girl!

Potty Training Fail

Today marked day 4 of potty training....and we're using the 3 Day Potty Training method. So I think that tells you how successful we've been. Day 3 was more of the same from days 1 and 2. We had accident after accident after accident. At one point last night she yelled potty and ran into the bathroom and sat on the potty for a second. I was hopeful, thinking maybe we had reached a turning point. But it never happened again.

This morning, I was getting super frustrated. I held up a diaper and a pair of panties and asked her which ones she wanted to wear. She pointed to the panties. That had to be a good sign right? No. A few minutes later I asked her where she was going to go to the potty when she had to go again and she pointed to the floor. Clearly she knows what's going on and is making the choice not to go in the potty.

So, we're done. At least for now. I'll wait a few months and try again, hopefully with more success. It would have been awesome if it worked. But it didn't, so that's that. Part of me is mad about the whole thing, but then I look at this sweet face and I can't stay mad for very long.

One good thing about throwing in the towel, I got to leave the house for the first time in three and a half days. I've never been so excited to go to church in my whole life.