Life in Lewisville

Friday, October 26, 2012

12 to 13 month action

The last month or so has been busy since Cameron's first birthday celebration and our family vacation...

We took a week to get settled back into our routine at home and then I decided to make a big trip with Cameron (and Chewy!) while Dave went to work in Alabama for a week and a half. So, my one-year-old (love saying that :)) and I spent the first 11 days of October traveling to Louisville visiting with my favorite KY girls and their babies! Here's a little recap of how it went down along with a snapshot of our time there:

Day 1: Departed Raleigh at 6:20 p.m. with my sleepy boy, nervous dog, a car filled to the max, and my mind full of doubt that any of this was a good idea. Made one stop to feed Cameron his nighttime bottle and grabbed a Starbucks to keep me company the rest of the way. I breathed a big sigh of relief when Cameron settled to sleep around 8:30 after fussing for a while. Can't blame him; he's not accustomed to sleeping in the car. My goal at this point was to stay awake (always a good goal to have when driving) and get to Charleston, WV. Thanks to my latte, there were no problems with alertness and the next three hours passed easily other than driving 30 mph through two areas of dense fog. Definitely took another couple deep breaths after that. For the first time in my life, I was very thankful for a well-lit semi truck that I tailgated through all that. We arrived at the hotel at 11:45 and then the following comedy scene played out: I attempted to unload my confused baby, his pack n play, and our overnight bag while convincing Chewy that I would be back to get her. (It was SO much easier when I practiced it in my head!) Got checked in and didn't have to try very hard to look in need of help, so the sweet receptionist called the security guard to help me with all our things. Took about 45 minutes to get settled down--and by settled down I mean Cameron was no longer energetically kicking his legs and joyfully proclaiming his freedom from the car seat and/or peeping his little head over the side of the pack n play wondering where we were and what time of night it was. I, on the other hand, took a TAD bit longer to settle down thanks to the combination of my grande mocha working overtime well into the wee hours of the morning and then Cameron's 5 a.m. crying....ha, this all seems a lot funnier now than it did in the moment :)

The shirt says it all

Day 2: At any rate, we all ended up sufficiently rested by 9 a.m. and were back on the road at quarter after 11. Nothing notable happened during our daytime driving, but I will say that during the last hour of the trip Cameron and I were DONZO being in the car. He had caught on to my ploys of passing back raisins and breadcrumbs and every toy I could get my hands on and singing every song I could to keep him occupied and happy. I reminded myself more than once that no one forced me to do this trip. This was MY idea, after all. And, as it turns out, the minute we turned onto good old Westport Road and into the neighborhood that holds hundreds of my growing-up memories and then I saw this sweet house and my wonderful mom...

...I KNEW it was all so so worth it!

Ok, so much for a "little recap"... that was more like a mini novel :) I promise to give you the CliffsNotes version along with ample pictures from here on out!

Day 3: Enjoying the beautiful fall weather at Tom Sawyer park with Nana

Mesmerized by the gorgeous tree

Day 4: Playing at Jill's!

Happy Silas

Big brother Tommy. Just gotta love this sweet kid!

Tommy: "Uh, what?" Cameron: "I'm going to pet you like I pet Chewy!"

(Funny enough, that's the look Chewy often gives him too :))

Jill, it goes without saying, I LOVE YOU and would be lost and roastless without you! Please tell Kyle to quit working and going to seminary and to get onto bigger and better things with his life like inventing a time-travel machine!!

Day 5:
Hung out with my dad at home on his day off. Always working hard in the kitchen, he cooked up a delicious beef stew for us. Yum Yum.

Day 6:
Saw my favorite twins, Amanda and Tara + their hubbies and T's sweet baby Andrew

Graeter's Ice cream--a MUST when going home

Day 7:
Relaxing Sunday with Nana & PopE

Day 8:
Road trip to Bowling Green, home of my Alma Mater
AND my favorite Chelbell + baby Reid
(Chel--we should have gotten Tim to take our picture!)

Cameron and the dogs trying to escape!

Day 9:
Shopped/hung out again with Jill,
visited with Mrs. Tami and sweet Hannah

Day 10:
Visited my mom at work, packed up our things, enjoyed a
fantastic dinner with Tara C. (girl, we didn't get a picture together!)

Day 11:
Packed up the car while mom watched Cameron. Left at 1:15 p.m....fast forward 10.5 hours and WE WERE HOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMEEEEEEE

Loved every moment with each of these precious friends, so thanks for making time for me and thanks, mom and dad, for the good times we had together!

P.S. I still need to post the birthday party pictures....
eventually I will :)

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

The best 12 months

I beam with pride on the inside just thinking about everything Cameron has brought to our lives this past year. My heart swells with joy when I watch the little boy he is becoming right before my eyes each day. It seems an impossible task to put into words how our lives have changed and it is utterly inconceivable to imagine what life would be like without our charming, silly, determined little man. I am truly so thankful to the Lord for what he has given us in the undeserved gift of Cameron.

This year, I've learned more about myself, grown closer to Dave, and fallen in love with this little 18.9 pound happy boy. My understanding of our Heavenly Father has deepened as the parallels between having a child and being a child of God have come alive. I know more now about unconditional love and sacrifice, immeasurable joy, and strength found through weaknesses. As I'm sure so many other women feel, I'm convinced that a huge part of my purpose in life has been fulfilled in becoming a mom. I know it is not my ultimate purpose, but it's been the BEST job I could have ever been given, even on those days when I doubted myself, made mistakes, was easily frustrated, overwhelmed, and discouraged. I'm just thankful! Overflowing with it, if you can't tell!

12-month-old Cameron has blossomed quite a bit this past month. Though he hasn't quite taken his first steps alone, he no longer fits in the category of "Mr. Mobile Wannabe" like he did last month. He has taken to crawling (finally!--so cute!) in addition to cruising along furniture, walls, or whatever/whoever he can get his hands on for balance. He's pulling up regularly, stooping down to pick up toys, and just this morning I caught him standing on his Anywhere Chair AND climbing on the bottom step of our stairs! Ready or not, our little boy is bound to take off any time now, and when he does I'm looking forward to taking him to nearby parks and Marbles Kids Museum to let him roam around and explore on his own.

In addition to his gross motor development, he's also been working hard growing three new teeth! This poor child never gets one at a time, but I tell myself that maybe it's good to get a few out of the way at a time, right?? He now has a molar on top (remember when I thought that was coming through TWO months ago?!), a canine working it's way in next to that, and a molar coming on the bottom. (That one caused quite a dramatic scene on vacation when we were all fixed up for family pictures and his gums let loose an unexpected pool of blood onto his nice white button-down!) With 11 chompers filling his mouth, he's capable of eating a good assortment of whatever we offer him so that makes meal time a bit easier. (If only I didn't have to worry so much about what junk is in our food, it'd really be a breeze!)

Aside from all that, this past month has been busy with birthday celebrations and Cameron's first trip to the beach! As pretty as the pictures below are, they're incapable of fully capturing the all great moments that made this time with family such fun. Looking back at them, I'm reminded of what a tremendous blessing my family is. These are the people who know me best and love me most, despite my flaws and quirks and sins and silliness and absurd anger-outburts when playing Taboo and everything in between!