Growing Like A Weed

Cameron is growing way to quick! I had no idea about sizing with baby clothes when I was buying for him before he was born so I just assumed that when it said 6 months on it then it meant he would fit it at 6 months, how naive of me. I now realize that, of course, every baby is different and mine seems to be the big one of the pack because he is already in 6-9 month clothes, some 9 month and a few 12 month onsies! Can you believe that? And only 4 months old... Anyhow, I obviously bought for the wrong seasons when I was shopping and I bought a lot of clothes up to 6 months because I figured I would have at least 6 months before I would have to worry about buying more. So he had no pants that really fit him and no warmer onsies since the weather is cooling down, and no socks big enough to fit his chubby feet! Last night we went and got him some new clothes, long pants, long sleeve onsies, socks and a good winter jacket for in the next few months. Childrens place was having a sale and this hat he is wearing was only 50 cents, so I had to get it, how cute. The picture here is him in some of his new clothes. Because he has outgrown 90% of the clothes I had bought him before I figured it was time to sort through them and store them away. Look at all those clothes he has grown out of in just 4 months... This picture doesnt even do it justice for how big those piles are. At least I know now with my next baby, but unfortunately he/she could be totally different!

Just Peachy

Last night my friend, her husband and I did some canning. We are both learning so it was a fun experience. This was the first time I have ever canned anything! A member of our ward has some connections in eastern Washington so he got us 25lbs of peaches for a good deal. We got a good system down and we went through 75lbs of peaches in 3 hours, which may sound like a long time to more experienced canners, but I am proud of us. We had a fun time! I am planning on continuing to can fruits. I also ordered a dehydrator so that will be fun to use as well. I am really trying to work on learning how to build our food storage, especially with so much focus on it from the church right now. I am feeling somewhat unprepared so I am trying to make an effort to increase my education and my food supply. We have some wonderful sisters in our ward that know so much about it and I am so blessed to be able to learn from them and take in all their knowledge for myself and my family. I am also so glad I have a great friend right across the street to do things like this with and to keep me motivated!

My Favorite Time of Day

As excited as I am to watch Cameron grow and become more independent minded it also makes me sad because this means he isnt wanting to be so cuddly anymore:( He loves to sit on your lap or be held facing outward so he can see the world and explore, but he is not so much for the snuggled up against my chest or in my arms thing nowadays. So at night before we go to bed I wake him up at 9:30pm to do one last feeding before turning in myself. And during this feeding he is still half asleep so he just lays there in my arms cuddly and snuggly and drinks his bottle. He holds onto my hands and he is so sweet and peaceful. I love it! It has become my favorite time of day because I have my little tiny new baby back for those 15 minutes where he just wants to be held and rocked and he falls back asleep on my shoulder. During this time it gives me some good thinking time and I always end up thinking how much I love him, how I cant even believe that he is my sweet little boy, how grateful I am to my Heavenly Father for sending him to us and how I am just so infatuated with every little thing about him. He is such a sweet baby. At this time he is so calm instead of kicking and wiggling and I often have the time to admire the little features on him, his little button nose, his chunky little toes, all his rolls and knuckle dimples and his soft skin. I know one day I am really going to miss him being at this age so I am savoring every moment of it! I only wish that the super cuddly snuggly stage hadnt flown by in an instant. Now I know with my next baby to expect it to go by fast so I will savor every last second of the newborn stage. I love my little Cameron with all my heart and then some.

Look At Me!

This morning Cameron sat on his own! He has been starting to do it for the last few days but I have had to support him still. He doesnt like to lay back anymore, he will work so hard to pull himself into a sitting position if you have him leaned back, even to feed him! So today I was working with him on the floor and I let go and he did it on his own. Of course it only lasted for about 30 seconds-1 minute and then he fell to the side, but he still did it. And he was able to hold it for that long a few times. So now he just has to work more on staying steady for longer.
He kept trying to eat his toes! He would sit there and look at me and then grab his foot and work really hard to pull his mouth to it, but sadly his budha belly got in the way:) He is growing so fast and learning so quickly. I am so proud of him!

Scrapblogs

I found this new cool website where I can scrapbook online and then save it to my computer and print it off for a scrapbook. I can also share them online and have them in my blog. I have the 3 I have done so far at the bottom of my blog page. Or y ou can go to www.scrapblog.com/littlesmiles and then you have the option to view them in full page so you can read them. This is one of my new favorite websites!

New Things To Do

Just this week Cameron starting using his doorway jumper and we got him an exersaucer. I noticed that he had been getting bored with the things he has been doing for a while, he didnt like to sit in his bouncer and play with those toys anymore. He wants to have his head up and be standing or sitting and be able to look around and explore. He has really been enjoying both of these new toys. He is becoming very independent and wanting to be able to do things on his own. He tries to hold his own bottle, when we lay him down he works so hard to pull himself up, he would much rather be in the sitting or standing position. So, thanks heavens we found some things that will keep him entertained, at least for now!
He also has found his feet! He loves to sit on our tummys and look around and talk, and just within the last week and a half he has really started to like grabbing his feet. Sadly, he is such a chunk that he cant reach them as easily as some babies... He can only reach them in a sitting position. If I try to bend his feet up to his hands while he is laying the belly gets in the way and they go barely further than vertical. Im hoping he will start lengthening out soon.

T.E.D.D.Y. Study

When Cameron was born they did a test at the hospital to look at his genetic risk for Type 1 Diabetes aka Juvenile Diabetes. To be honest I completely forgot that we even did it! But when he was about 2 months old we got a phone call with the results and he has a 3% risk of developing in his lifetime. This may not sound like a lot and it isnt, it leaves a 97% chance he wont, but its higher than normal. The average population has a .3% risk so he is significantly higher. Being at this risk it makes him eligible to be a part of the TEDDY Study (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young). In this study they look at antibodies in his blood to determine if his risk increases and if his body is starting to attack the beta cells and destroy them which is a sign of the beginning stages of Type 1. We decided to have him take part in the study. It helps them and helps us to watch him closely and would alert us early on if he started showing signs. If we didnt participate and he did develop Type 1 we most likely wouldnt know anything was going on until he got really sick. Today we had his first appointment and I got to go over all the information about him. Every month I have to send in a stool sample where they look at viruses he has passed in the last month. Also 4 times a year we go in for an appointment where they draw blood to look at the antibodies. It was sad to watch him get poked, but it was kinda funny because they couldnt find his vains through all his chub-wub! She had to push and poke around on his arm, and then his other arm, then both his feet and still couldnt find one. Finally she tried the first arm again and after a while she found one. But once she found one she laughed at how deep his veins are, they are way down there under all his insulation. Also, they look at stresses in the home and in the childs life, stresses while I was pregnant, my diet while I was pregnant, Camerons diet, water in the home, and lots of other things that they are studying to see if they contribute to Type 1. The average age for developing it is between the ages of 9-12 and the chances of having it show under the age of 2 is low and before the age of 1 is extremely low. It is a 15 year study but he can leave at the age of 4 is we choose. It was very interesting to hear all the information and I am glad we have this opportunity to watch his health so closely and be able to help out a study at the same time.

3rd Wedding Anniversary

Today is our anniversary! I cant believe how fast time flies. It seems like we were just dating and here we are 3 years later with a house and a baby. I was looking through some of the pictures from when we were dating so I thought I would post some, funny how young we look! (And how skinny we were...)

3 Month Photos: Part 2

Eating his hand, as always

His little feet

Holding Daddys hand

We bought this teddy for Cameron while I was still pregnant with him

Sleeping so sweetly

Me kissing Camerons little hand

Cameron with flower, how sweet

Cameron looking so cute

Chubby Boy!

Arent these great!? I am so glad I found Jeramiah and Kariah (Photosbyiah) to do his pictures! They turned out so good!

More 3 Month Photos: Part 1

Our Family

Me and Cameron

Our Family

Picture Collage

Festival in the Park

Today in our little town there was a "Festival in the Park" going on. So my mom and I took Cameron to wander around and see what was going on there. At first he just wanted to sleep in the stroller but he woke up and wanted to look around. It was so hot! There were lots of little booths with things to look at and purchase. It was a mini-fair. Cameron seemed to have a good time looking around and exploring his surroundings. He is really becoming quite the little explorer. This is one thing I love about living in a small town in the boonies, we have fun quaint little gatherings and farmers markets and all the fun things to enjoy in the summer. They had a little train you could ride that went from one end of the festival to the other, I think if they have that next year he would really enjoy it. I cant wait for him to start really being able to enjoy things like this!

Laughing

I tried to capture his laugh today, I got a little of it. I think he has the funniest laugh! I wish I could catch him laughing more on video, he recognizes the camera so I have to be sneaky and hide it so he cant see it to get him doing anything like this. Silly boy...

Summer Swimming

Today we went swimming with my friend Andrea and her two kids Corina and Rylec. It was a lot of fun! Cameron slept for the first little while we were there so we left Rylec and Cameron by the side of the pool with Andrea's mom so we could go play ourselves, its fun to act like a kid again sometimes. Then we took the babies in with us and Cameron wasnt sure he liked it at first but he warmed up to the idea and started to have fun. Rylec was having a blast he was kicking his feet and pushing himself away from the stairs, it was so cute! Im so glad we have sons so close in age. I had to get a picture of the baby bottoms, I love it! Summer is so much fun. Im sure it will be even more fun next year when he is over a year old, I cant wait!

Cameron and Eva

These are pictures from spending time with Camerons friend Eva today. Arent they cute! They are a week apart in age. Evas mom Tiffany and I met in birth class while we were still pregnant. It was a fun day. I especially love the one of them holding hands, how sweet!

Score!

Today Cameron and I went to Babies R Us with my friend Tiffany and her daughter Eva who is a week older than Cameron. Just our luck we were wandering around and a girl from Kiddy Kandids came up and asked if we wanted to do a free portrait of our babies! At first I was hesitant and asked what the catch was but there wasnt one, it was a promotion they were doing. What a deal! So we did it and this is the photo they took, how cute, right? He cant help being so cute, after all he is my son:)

Crazy Day

Friday started out as a normal day... it wasnt very nice out so I decided that instead of going for a walk at home I would take Cameron to the Super Mall in Auburn and walk there and maybe look for a cute baby hat for his pictures Saturday. We were about 2 miles from our house and he started to sound like he was choking. He has reflux and he is teething so he sometimes coughs like he is choking and it normally stops after a about 2 coughs, but occasionally he doesnt stop and you have to pick him up and pat his back to get him to stop. This happened to be one of the times when he wasnt stopping and I was driving so I couldnt just pick him up and help him so I turned for a second to make sure he was ok, that he wasnt turning blue or anything and then turned back around and realized the light had turned red ahead of me and the cars were stopped! I tried to brake but realized that I couldnt in time so I tried to turn off the road instead of hitting the car in front of me but I hit their rear corner and then, you wouldnt guess, ran my car into a chain link fence!! Ahh! I didnt know I could move so fast because I was out of that car and getting him out of his car seat in a matter of seconds to make sure he was ok. I was so afraid he was hurt. I feel bad I didnt even go up to check on the other person because I was so worried about him. Its amazing how quickly you can move when your worried about your baby. He was fine and so was I and the girl in the other car. My car wasnt fine and neither was the fence... but those are repairable. Of course when you need someone to come get you no one was home and Bret was at least an hour or more away. Courtney came to pick me up and take us home, it was so nice of her:) I just cant believe how crazy that day turned out to be. Now I have a rental car, a ticket and a court date... and no hat for his pictures. Im just so glad that we were ok, especially Cameron. So that was our busy Friday.

3 Month Photos

Here are a few of the pictures from his 3 month photo shoot today with Photosbyiah. It was a lot of fun and they did such an awesome job! I got these off their blog so when I get them on CD I will post some more. Their link is under "friends" on my blog if you are interested in having them take pictures for you too. I will say that they did a really great job and they were very creative with their ideas. I would highly recommend having them take your families pictures. They are right in Tacoma which is really handy!

We Created a Giant

Today I had a doctors appointment and he is our family doctor so he sees Cameron too. I asked them if I could weigh him because it has been killing me wanting to know how much he weighs because he seems like he has gotten so big! They did and he weighs 16lbs 12oz!! He is only 3 months old and he already weighs that much! I am amazed. So thats the latest news on him... BIG boy. Im sure in a number of months when he starts crawling and then walking and terrorizing my house I will have a post called "We created a monster!" but for now giant works.

First Time at the Park!

It was so nice out today so we had to get out and enjoy it! We went to the park with my friend Andrea and her two kids Corina and Rylec, it was a lot of fun! Cameron got to sport his sunglasses and baseball hat and he looked so adorable. I think he likes being outside, he enjoys the scenery and the breeze. It was a fun afternoon!

Chatty Cameron

His new thing is in the mornings he loves to lay on his changer while Im getting him changed and dressed and talk, alot! And he is doing these high pitched noises sometimes accompanied by squeals. He will go on forever and kick his legs around and smile, its so cute! It was kinda darker in the room then I realized so the video didnt turn out as bright as I would have liked:( Look at the thighs on that kid though, Jeez!

Out with the old, in with the new

About a month or so ago Bret decided he needed a taller, bigger truck than the Silverado. He convinced me that the truck he wanted cost less than what he could sell his Silverado for so it would make it so we could pay off some bills if we sold it and he could get a new truck. He went ahead and got a new truck(the white one in the picture). I can barely get into it! Good thing Im not pregnant anymore, I certainly wouldnt be able to then. Anyhow, the Silverado is still sitting on the side of the house, but at least he has a new truck, right? As many of you know he also had a 94 Jimmy that he was building a new frame for and he had chopped the top off and turned it into a convertable. In doing so it created a lot of work that would need to be done to bring it back to life. He worked hours on the frame, put lots of blood, sweat and money into it. He has come to the realization that it will be years before he will have the money to finish the project and in the long run it would be best to just get a new body for the frame he built, one that is still put together would be nice. So in a sacrificial move he cut the Jimmy up into pieces to make more room in the garage and he is hauling it off to the scrap yard... Poor Bret. Im sure he had a moment of silence before loading the last piece into the bed of his new truck. Hopefully in the future he will be able to finish the project. In the end at least he has a giant to drive around now!

Project Toy Box: COMPLETE

I was getting so fed up with all Camerons toys and gadgets all over the living room. From books and rattles to tummy time mats and bouncers it was too much! So I decided that Bret was going to build a toy box to contain the wild mess. As usual when I get an idea in my head I wanted it done right then! Being the handy (obedient) hubby he is he got to work on it right away. He built the box with the dimensions I gave him (although I think I kind of over estimated the size and it is a bit big...) and made it perfectly! I wanted to paint it black to sort of go with our other living room furniture so I had some black matte paint from another project that was left over. I didnt like it matte though so I tried to use a clear coat to make it shiny but all this did was make it worse! It had all these funny bubbles in it and now it just looked cloudy and dirty. We had seen some chalkboard paint at the hardware store in town and thought that might be kind of cool. I trucked on down to pick some up and got to work right away. Even though he wont be able to really use it anytime too soon I thought it was a fun idea for when he is older. And my friends kids who have come over love it! I randomly have been changing what is on it and erasing previous drawings. It may have been a toy box for Cameron but I think Im enjoying it more! Thank heavens for handy husbands, what would we do without them? The crazy mess of all Camerons things has been contained... for now!

Family Fun!

Yesterday was a hair doing-family seeing extravaganza! First of all we stopped off at my parents to see them and I cut my brothers hair (doesnt he look handsome!). They really enjoyed seeing Cameron even though he slept through most the visit. Then we headed over to Maggie and Richards for me to cut and color Megans hair and color Maggies hair! Busy hair day. Cameron got to spend time with his Grandma and Grandpa Madsen, his Uncle Jim, Aunt Megan and his cousins Riley, Peyton and Brody, he really enjoyed it! I think all the commotion made him a little fussy, he isnt used to so many people all at once. We were going to take him in the pool but it turned out to be a little too cold for his little body so he sat by the pool with Bret while Riley, Peyton and Jim swam. It was so much fun spending time with family. We dont get to see Jim and Megan and their kids very often so it was a real treat:) Brody is getting so big! He was wearing Brets hat and looked so cute so we had to get a picture. I am so excited that they are so close in age! It will be so fun for them to have a cousin so close.