Fort pictures

So, Mom sent me a couple of pictures of Cam's new fort. We still need to fill with wood chip, maybe this weekend if the weather is nice.

Jeff's photography

Not too long ago, Jeff spent a Saturday at Steven's Hospital photographing a birth. He made a slide show out of some of the pictures and, of course it is just beautiful. Go to Jeff's Photography and on his front page you should see a link that says Baby Gabrielle.

Thursday

I forgot about Saturday! Saturday, Jenn and I went to the NW Women's Show and had tons of fun. I wanted to meet Ann Rule and get her newest book, but I didn't get there soon enough. I did get the kids a Veggie Tales CD with their names in them. So... Bob the tomato starts singing and says "Hey, Paige!" or "If Cameron is happy and he knows it..." Paige is oblivious and couldn't care less, but I put Cam's in and when they said his name, his eyes got huge and he looked at me. He said "How did they know?" Now if I play Paige's Cam gets annoyed and says "I'm here too! I'm Cameron John!"

Yesterday Jenn wasn't feeling well, so Cam, Paige and I picked up her baby and we all hauled off to the mall. I needed to go there anyway, so made an adventure out of it. Cam pushed Paige in the stroller and when Collin baby got hungry, he held his bottle for him. He was so very helpful. After I did my little errand I took the kids to Build A Bear so Cam could make a teddy bear. Here's a picture of him with his lavendar bear and the Cookie Monster he chose for his sister.


When we got home, Cam was sound asleep. Jeff picked him up and stood him on the driveway where he took one step and fell flat on his nose. I guess he wasn't awake enough to walk! If you look close at the picture, you can see the scrape on his nose. It looks worse in real life. It also bruised so he had a purple nose. Hey, it matched his bear!

Today, poor Jenn was really sick from medication she got yesterday so I took her in to the hospital and took care of Collin again until Mark could get there. Poor Jenn! She's feeling awful. I took her to Providence (Heather!) and I was hoping Heather might be working today, but she wasn't. The girl who did the x rays though kind of reminded me of Heather :) She was very sweet. Jenn is better now and at home.

Paige is coughing, Cam is asleep on the couch and my head hurts. Jeff has a cold too, but I think he's getting better. I'm so glad it is almost the weekend! I'm sitting here being extra especially lazy. Although, I did get a burst of energy and made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. YUM!

Ohhh want to see something awful? My parents used to have a beautiful pool in a nice yard... grass, flowers.. soooo pretty. Did I mention the pool they used to have? *sigh* Here is what it looks like now.

Can I have a tissue, please?

Sickies go away...

Poor Paigie wa so sick yesterday and this morning. She couldn't keep any food down most of yesterday. I spent all afternoon sitting in the comfy chair holding her and helping her through all the barfing. She just leaned on me and slept, cried, whined and threw up. Poor poor baby. She was still slow and clingy this morning, but made big improvements by the afternoon. I think she's on the mend.

Jeff has been sick too. He has a cold and a constant headache. He stayed home with all of us today which was nice. He ended up having to go in to work this evening to do some server stuff... whatever it is, it's taking a long time and he needs some sleep.

Today I noticed my driver's license is expired. It expired a YEAR ago. Weird thing is, I've been using it as my ID and no one has said anything. I have rented two cars, traveled, been pulled over, purchased alcohol (including from a liquor store) and got a passport for Paige all using that expired license. Strange. I'm sure I've also written checks and don't they often write the exp date of your license on them? Hmmmm. I'll notice that now.

The kids and I were watching The Incredibles today after Jeff left and Cam would not stop talking. Not for a second. Seriously. You'd think he'd run out of questions or things to talk about, but not my child. I did get a little frustrated a couple of times, but then I remember he's only four and someday way too soon I'll be trying anything to get him to talk to me more. Anyway, we had this conversation for a while. I wrote it down as fast as I could so I could be as accurate as possible. Every other line is Cam and then me:

Mom, how did she know he was on the island?
The transponder told her
What's a transponder?
a device in his suit that tells her where she is when she pushes that button
Did he know it was in his suit?
No.
Why is it there?
So they can find him
who put it there?
The lady who made is suit
Who?
The lady who makes the suits
Who?
THE LADY!!
His mom?
Do you mean his wife?
Yes, his wife?
No, the suit lady
What lady?
The lady with short black hair
The one his mom is talking to?
You mean his wife.. yes.
That's a man.
No, it's a woman
no, man
okay.
It looks like a man, mom
Okay, Cam, ,it can be a man.
Maybe it is a woman.
I think it is
Mom, how do they know he is on the island?
Cam, how do YOU think they know?
Maybe the transponder?
Yes, honey. The transponder.
Oh.
Mom?
Yes.
How does the mom stretch into a balloon??

CAM! Don't you need to be annoying in another room?
Mom?
Yes.
I love you.
I love you too, Cam.

Here's a picture of the lady who makes the suits. HER name is Edna. I did laugh because I thought it was a guy too until Jeff corrected me :)

The aftermath

A couple more pictures from Sunday.. Paige didn't like sharing and Cam was exhausted after playing with everyone!

Great weekend!

So, I'm a little behind. Paige is saying new words right and left, it's great! We're working on getting her to tell us things when she's upset instead of screaming and throwing whatever she can grab. Must be rough being almost two.

Saturday night we tried out a new church and LOVED it. I think we have finally found a place where we are happy. It's pretty big and it also has a school so when Cam is a little older, he can go there if we decide it's right for him. Another bonus, it's very close to where I work so it would be easy for me to take him to school and pick him up after. Paige tried out the kid's room during the service and although she did have fun coloring, playing and blowing bubbles, she was NOT happy that I left her there. Oh, another thing I loved about the church is it has a Saturday evening service at 5:30 and that works so great for us. It actually makes the weekend seem longer somehow. I don't like going Sunday mornings. So... Yay for a new church :)

Sunday we had a baby shower for my friend Sarah who is due in just over a month. She brought Nathaniel, Ana brought Aiden and Liam and Chelsea came too, but her kids have chicken pox, so they didn't get to join in the festivities. We had SO much fun. The kids loved it! Aiden is Cam's age and the other two kids are Paigie's age. They played so hard that Cam slept the rest of the day. Silly boy. Here are pictures... The blond kids are Aiden and Liam, Nathaniel has the dark hair. How cute are they??? Adorable kids!

side note

I forgot.. Now when Cam burps really loud (which is MANY times a day!) Paige says "Niiiiiice". Cracks me up!!

Paige's new words

"NO" is Paige's newest word. She watches me say it and then practices. Cam got in an argument with her. He kept saying 'Yes' and she would reply with 'No'. As soon as her dad came home she stopped saying it and now refuses.

Today, the kids' great grandma came with Grandma to play and babysit. She taught Paige to say 'Piglet' It's my favorite of Paigie's words right now. The way she says it is soooo cute.

Cam was sad today because it rained really hard and he couldn't ride his bike on the deck. He helped me make Creme Caramel instead and told me he likes to help because "That's what I do, Mom. I help people." Later when he was on my lap and Paige hopped up to, he started stroking her head, pushing her hair out of her eyes. He's not above knocking her off the chair if she bugs him, but moments like this sure do make up for the arguments. He is such a kind, caring little guy.

Cam's exciting weekend

So, this weekend my mom came over and we put up Cameron's new fort. It's a big muddy mess underneath, but what kid doesn't love mud? We are planning to put bark underneath it this weekend. The neighbors were over all Saturday helping and then Sunday playing. We sent them home drenched in mud and rain. I bet their parents loved us! HAHA! Jeff took some pictures, but I haven't seen them yet so I'll post them later.

Then, we booked our plane tickets and picked out a fabulous apartment to rent in Paris with an amazing view of Sacre Coeur. It also has internet so we can post while we are away! YAY! It's not for sure yet, but it's looking good. I promised Cam we would go to Euro Disney and I think we may go to the zoo while we are there too. We do so much adult stuff in Paris that it gets boring for him and I want him to enjoy it too. Now I have to work a lot of overtime to pay for it all.

We had dinner with our friends and got to see all of their fabulous new furniture in their fabulous new house. They have a little boy named Collin and when I asked Paige if she wanted to go to his house, she ran to the door yelling 'Co-eee'. I think she likes him!

Paige is using new words every day. She'll just say something out of the blue and surprise me. Her little voice is so sweet.

We went to Ikea yesterday and got the last two bookshelves for the library so they all match now. We haven't put them up yet, but I am hoping we can tonight. Jeff's mom was so nice to pay for them so they will all match and can all be VERY SAFELY strapped to the walls and to each other so the Binkinator (that's Paige) will be safe in there.

Pictures to follow..

Dolls!

I found my old Cabbage Patch doll as well as two other similar dolls and their clothes and brought them downstairs and the kids are having so much fun with them. Cam is trying on all their different outfits and Paige is tickling their toes! She says 'ticka ticka ticka' . I'm glad that I kept them for our kids. I have some old Barbies too that they like to play with.

Today I took the kids to Costco to get Paige's passport photo taken. She didn't appreciate it, but we got a decent picture. She sure looks a lot like Cameron's passport photo which was taken at about the same age. Paige gets to go to Paris this summer and Cam gets to go for the third time. He's only four years old.. lucky boy. We are going to go to Euro Disney as well so the kids get some time to just play and be crazy.

My friend sent me this really old picture of Cam. What a sweetie. I forget how small he was. I remember how he used to love to swing and he would fall asleep in there every day. I think the outfit was given to him by Aunt Sue and it was one of my favorites. Soft and snuggly with a little bear on it.

Bookcases are strapped

It's official, the bookcases are safe.

I started painting Paige's room. It's slow going since I only get a little time each day, but it's looking good. I'll take pictures when I finish it.

Cam seems to be officially over his naps. I like it better actually because he is happier in the evenings without a nap and then goes to sleep at 7:30. Now, to get Paige to go to bed in her own crib and sleep all night...

We are planning our vacation. I think we are planning on Hawaii, but maybe Oahu this time. Not sure yet. Cam is really excited though because he really loves the beach.

Cam spent all afternoon playing outside with the neighbors. It's so great to have all of these kids over to run around and be crazy and wear him out. I was really feeling cooped up and poor Cam has really been needing to get outside.

Jeff and I are going to make the kids their own secret place in the attic. I'm SO excited! I don't know how it will work yet, but they'll have secret doors from their rooms to their very own play space no one will know about. We are also going to put up the wood fort this weekend for everyone to play on.

I'm off to bed!

Friday

I thought Paige's thrush came back, but then I couldn't see any this morning and now I see a little on her cheek again, so I'm going to wait and see what happens with it now.

Yesterday, Paige's grandma mentioned that she was worried about the bookshelves in the library falling over so I was going to strap them to the wall this weekend. Today though, Paige ran in there and I heard a huge slam and got absolutely sick to my stomach. I ran in there and she was totally fine, but there is now a an enormous mess in there including a new scratch and big dent in the door. Thank God (seriously) that one case hit the door and the other landed on a chair so Paige was not injured, but I won't get over it any time soon. Jeff is picking up strapping today and all bookshelves will be safe this evening.

Just thinking about it makes me ill and I'm only blogging it because other parents will see it. Please strap all heavy items to the walls! Please don't ask me any more details, it seriously makes me feel like vomiting. I love my babies so much!

On a lighter note, it is finally getting decent enough for Cam to play outside all morning. He is having such a great time!

It's lunch time and I am feeling extra blessed today to be making lunch for two kids.

So, I was getting pestered to put some pictures of the rest of us up. The problem is, almost all of my memory cards are filled with pictures of the kids. Here's one of me playing tickle wars with the kids a few months ago and one of Jeff holding Binks about a year ago. Ooh, and I threw Genevieve on because, hey, who doesn't love that fuzzy face?



Paige's new favorite game is 'kissy brother'. When Cam wants her to play, he says "Hey, Paige... kissy kissy brother!" and she takes off chasing him all over the house making kiss sounds. She's a lot slower than he is though so he ends up lapping her and then he's chasing her and she forgets what she was doing and they both just run and run and giggle and scream.

Cam seems to be dropping his nap. It's working out pretty well. He's exhausted at 7:30, but he seems to have a better afternoon without the sleep. I think it's hard for him to really wake up after a nap. I still need one though.

New shoes

Cam outgrew his shoes again so it was off to the store. We picked up a pair for Binks too.

Silly kids!

This picture was not rotated! Cam is nuts! :)

Cam and Paige carefully set up these chairs on the deck and then Cam wanted to sit down on them. In the picture above, Paigie had been sitting backwards and Cam said "Paige, turn around!" So, Paige stood up and started turning in circles!
Cam tried setting her in her chair, but that didn't work either so I finally set her down properly and Cam sat next to her.

We all went to see Curious George today. Paige actually did surprising well. When we first walked in, she didn't like the idea at all, but she warmed up to it. She took a break about 1/2 way through, but came back a few minutes later (Jeff took her out) and did great for the rest of the movie. Cameron had a great time. We went to a really big theater and I think he was really impressed with it all.

Cam spent a lot of today outside playing with the neighbor kids. I'm so looking forward to more nice days so the kids can be out. Paige makes me nervous on the deck stairs, but she so loves the outdoors. She's just like Cam in that. I can't wait to get their fort put up so they will have that to play on as well.

Shaving

Yesterday, Cam tried shaving for the first time with his Sponge Bob shaving set. It's just a plastic razor and shaving cream, but he takes it very seriously! He got very upset when the cream got on his shirt, but after I wiped it off, he was much better.

Dentist visit

Yesterday was Cam's second dentist appointment. I had mine scheduled at the same time so we went together. I thought I'd be able to hold Cam while they did his teeth like last time, but the lady who cleans teeth (can't spell hygentist) put me in one chair and told Cam to go with her. He said 'okay' and off he went! He was so scared last time, but he did fabulous yesterday. I heard him fuss a little bit, but she got his teeth cleaned and the dentist said he looked great. Then he got a bag of dental treats and a little toy. I told him before we went that if he was really good and did what the dentist said, I would take him to a theater to see Curious George. I'm totally excited he was SO good! So, Saturday he gets to go see his very first movie in a theater. The lady who cleaned Cam's teeth was really great with him.

Paige says 'ball' now. Every time I change her diaper, she says "EWWWW STINK!" as soon as I open it. Silly girl. She still loves to 'tickle tickle' any time she sees skin. I'm thinking about moving her into a toddler bed soon. I'm ready to move the crib out and really get her room decorated for her. She also likes to fly. I pick her up and lay her across my shoulder, tummy down, and she puts her arms out and we run around the house flying. When Jeff is home, he can pick up Cammy that way too and we all run around the house. The neighbors probably think we are nuts! HAHA

Starbucks has a new drink.. Cinnamon Dolce Latte. Oh, it's sooo yummy. I think I shall have another on my way home.