18 Months and Counting...

We've been so busy lately! I'm still working two days a week and Camden goes to the same MDO I work at. We attend lots of playgroups and park playdates and it all keeps us very busy! We've also traveled as a family some recently. The weekend before Thanksgiving we went to Fort Worth (and Dallas) to visit friends and go to one of my best friend Marcy's engagement party. I was dying to go back up to Fort Worth and this gave us the perfect excuse! It was a busy weekend but very worth it. We left Thursday to go to Austin, stayed with Mike's parents that night, and left early for Fort Worth Friday morning. As soon as we got to the area we went to Hurst (where we used to live) to drive by our old house. We think we may have left our stone horned frog outside in the flower bed and Mike was going to take it if it was still there! haha...good police skills...stealing. We didn't find it though but it was weird to drive in our old neighborhood. We realize how much we miss it and miss the whole area. After doing that we went to see our friends who we know through Mike's old job. Camden played with their son and we got to meet their baby, too! That afternoon I got to see another friend I used to work with and her son. Camden had so much fun playing with old friends! We stayed with our friends Kristen and Jason in Fort Worth that night then went to Dallas the next day. I tried on bridesmaid dresses with Marcy and some of her other bridesmaids and we helped her pick out her wedding dress! The engagement party was that Saturday night and we had an early Christmas morning that Sunday with the group of friends. We always used to do a Christmas party when we lived up there so this was our party for this year. :) It was wonderful to see everyone! We went back to Austin on Sunday and celebrated my father-in-law's birthday, then drove back to Corpus Monday, not without a stop in San Antonio first! Wow...we were everywhere!
We went back home for a day and a half then turned around and went back to San Antonio for Thanksgiving. We got to see our old next door neighbors and good friends who came to visit us for the holiday from NC. Camden got to eat his first Thanksgiving dinner. He really liked the cranberry sauce and the stuffing. It's hard to believe that a year ago he was just trying his first baby food.

Now Camden is 18 months old and keeps us on our toes. He is definitely in his "terrible two's". He is happy one minute and crying like it's the end of the world the next. He is really fun when he's not throwing a tantrum! haha. He loves Elmo and the book Goodnight Gorilla. Mike's uncle sent us a huge gorilla stuffed animal and Camden LOVES to play on it! He also loves banging on things with his new drumsticks (thanks, Aunt Marcy!). He is sitting in a booster seat at the table now, which has eliminated some of the dinnertime fussing. He's growing up so fast! I can't believe he's halfway to two.


Eating his first Thanksgiving dinner.

Being silly

Christmas pictures in my mom's garden

Camden, Nonni, Aunt Sheri




Crying because he wanted to be picked up. This is a daily occurence.





Mike's Christmas gift from Alex, Marcy's fiance. We got him books. I don't think our gift even comapares to his.

Camden playing with his friend Gabi on our first "Christmas Morning."

Wearing Gabi's shoes...

At the TCU Campus

Frog Fountain

New Baby on the Way

As everyone knows by now, we are expecting baby #2! The new arrival is due June 3, but I will
be having a repeat c-section so the baby will probably be here at the end of May. That is a good thing so there is no chance Camden will share his birthday (June 2nd). Apparently we plan well...haha. I've been to the doctor twice and had 2 sonograms! The first was the sono to make sure everything was okay with the baby and to determine how far along I was. Mike wasn't able to come to the first appointment and we didn't get a picture of the baby printed out so at the second appointment I asked if it would be possible to have another sono so Mike could see the baby. My doctor agreed and everything still looks very healthy! We haven't heard the heartbeat yet but have seen it on the screen. It is strong. I was exhausted during my first trimester but that started to go away when I hit 12 or 13 weeks. Now I feel pretty good, besides allergies (blah!). I didn't get sick at all with this baby and only felt queasy a little. I'm so lucky! That was the part I was most nervous about. Camden knows there is a baby in Mommy's tummy although he is too young to really understand what that means. We will ask him where the baby is and he'll point to me or to his own tummy. Sometimes he'll even try to lift my shirt. I guess we'll have to work on that for later on so he is not lifting my shirt in public. :) We find out in 6 weeks if the baby is a boy or girl. We can't wait! Any guesses?

14 week belly - I'm showing so much sooner this time!

Happy Halloween!

Camden had fun this year for Halloween. We dressed him up as a chicken. He looked so cute! He got to wear his costume 4 times - I tried to get as much use out of his costume as possible. We went to a trunk-or-treat the weekend before Halloween. Camden didn't want to walk around; he sat in his stroller the whole time. He even played a couple games from his stroller. Camden also had a Halloween parade at his school. The babies only walked out the door to the courtyard and he was crying the whole time because he saw me in my classroom and wanted me to hold him. Then we hosted a costume playdate on Friday and went trick-or-treating on Saturday. We only went halfway down our street and back again but Camden had fun! He wanted to walk up every driveway and I had to try to explain that we couldn't go to the house if they didn't have their lights on. He didn't get it. :) Even thought he went trick-or-treating, Camden didn't get to eat any of his candy this year. Mike and I ate it. The next day Camden got his little pumpkin bucket and walked to the door wanting to go out again. It was cute.

Busy Summer

This summer has been so much fun and really busy! We went to my mom's in San Antonio several times and to Austin to see Mike's parents a couple of times. We went to Arizona to visit my friend Kendra and to North Carolina for a family reunion and my Grandma's 90th b-day. We also got to see some good friends while we were there. Am I leaving anything out? At the beginning of the summer I went to the Jersey shore with my mom and brother (Camden came with me). I have been working two days a week and I tutored for 6 weeks. It's October now and things are finally settled down. I like being busy but I'm really enjoying my time just being home with the family. Not that we're not still busy. Camden keeps us on our toes. He is constantly coming up with new things to do. He loves running around the house playing. Camden and I also go to lots of playgroups. I am an organizer for my mom's group now so we both have a lot of people to hang out with! Camden loves playing with other kids and I love talking to other moms. :)

We went to the aquarium about a couple of weeks ago with some friends.

Just hanging out with the dolphins.

Camden was so happy to run around in the underwater dolphin viewing room.

Playing on the playground afterward.

Camden and his friend Aubree. They are 10 days apart.

Signing "more" so he can get a snack.

Camden loves playing outside. He'll randomly decide he wants to go out, try to open the back door, then cry if no one lets him go out. When the weather is cooler he will get to go out a lot more!

Playing in the sprinkler.

He loves the hose. When we're in the backyard he always tries to get it out and turn the water on.

Here are a few family pics from the weekend in NC.

Camden didn't nap well while we were there so he passed out on Daddy's lap during the b-day lunch. We actually had to hide behind the bed of the hotel room so he would go to sleep at night.

The biggest hit of the weekend was playing with the radiator. :)

Walking Everywhere

Camden took his first steps on Father's Day (what a great present for Daddy!). The week before that he would take one step then all of a sudden that Sunday he took about 3. He was excited about something and just took the steps. Mike and I both saw it so that was good. Camden continued with the 3-4 steps then fall pattern for a few weeks, really until this past week. He was being very cautious about walking. He all of a sudden got brave and started to try more and more steps. Now he prefers walking all of a sudden! It is so much fun and so unbelievable to see. I thought he would never walk and now he walks all around the house!


This is from when he took a few steps at a time. He was very unsure about walking. We were always trying to get him to practice.

Last week he was still very wobbly.

And now...

Water Fun

Camden got a water table for his birthday from Grammy and Pops. He loves splashing and playing in the water! These pictures are from the first time he played with it.

Camden and his playmates.

Splish, Splash!

Marley thought this was a big water bowl for her.

And then Camden started drinking the water like a dog. :)

Things About Camden

Loves:
music
books
waffles
brocoli with cheese
walks in the stroller
mailboxes (I have no idea...)
mac and cheese
animals
babies
closing every door in the house
climbing
baths
feeding the dogs from his highchair
grapes
eating
his shoes
putting things in and taking them out
Gerber turkey sticks (yuck!)
turing off light switches

Doesn't Like:
diaper changes
having his face wiped
sweet potatos
carrots
waiting for food

New-ish Things He Can Do:
follow instructions
say and sign "done"
wave bye-bye
drink from a straw
clap hands
sign "more"
say "hi"
tries to say "bye-bye" and "night-night" (sounds like na-na)

First time feeding the seagulls at the duck pond. The poor ducks are overpowered by the seagulls.