The Little Things in Life | December 2012

It's hard to think that it's already the end of December. This month has been like a speeding train and it doesn't seem that Christmas has already come and gone.

There have been so many things that we've done this month and it's so hard to get pictures of it all but I have included a few pictures that really stick out for me this month in my project of "The Little Things in Life."

This is my daughter being her silly fun self after we took our family pictures. She's not much for wanting her pictures taken so for her to call on me to watch her jump from a tree branch and take a picture...well yeah I'm all for it.

Our annual Christmas parade was this night and my daughter and niece Kelsey were on the Pizza Hut float. Their Uncle David is the manager and they wanted to be in the parade. They mainly held the posters over their head. This was taken as we dropped her off to get ready for the line up. Don't ya think those hats are just the funniest things ever?! Yeah me too!!

 

This picture is very special to me because I am very seldom in pictures since I'm the one taking them. However, I want to always get as many pictures as I can with my kids. They are growing so fast and I want them to have pictures of me with them. This day was my 32nd birthday and we were playing with fake snow and Karli was in the middle of a sentence. It was a pretty awesomely fun day! They loved loved loved throwing the snow into the air and I equally loved watching them make memories.

My kids love going to the park and this day was a good day. I had just got my new lens in and it was also Karli's last day of school for the Christmas holidays! Cam is infatuated with the merry-go-round and so when Karli and Kelsey were riding on it he thought he'd catch a ride on Karli's leg. Priceless.

Whoever though that catching leaves as they were falling to the ground could be so much fun? Well it is. It's not only fun but it's totally funny. Watching someone try to determine which way to run because they aren't sure which direction it will turn in is very entertaining. I don't think I've laughed that much in a while.I caught one and Karli caught a few. Cam may have been wondering what kind of family he was a part of too that day as he were running around all over the place. It was totally my momma's idea and I loved it.

The Little Things in Life | November

Talk about waiting till the last minute to do a blog post! We've been going, going all day today and I am just now getting the time to edit these pictures! I have had so many ideas of what I wanted to capture this month and didn't get half of them. What I did get were some moments in our lives that make up our everyday.

In these pictures taken on November 5th, 2012 is my son and his beloved trains. He loves trains. Everything about them. He loves hearing the real ones come screaming by with their loud horns. If he's in the house he will take off running to the nearest window and if he's outside he will run to the side of the house to get a peep of the train through the fence. Also in the last picture is basically what he does a few hours after getting up. Notice his favorite movie right now, Toy Story 3 on the tv, his shoes at the front of the frame, his bouncy seat turned half way around, his empty sippy cup tossed aside, his shirt that he's stripped off, his favorite "bankie" and toys laying around. This is him.







On this day, November 16th, 2012 we were laying on the couch together watching a Toy Story marathon on tv. He was tired and fighting sleep and so was I! Within an hour or so into the movie he was asleep. It was later in the evening and I knew he needed the sleep..so we go into my room and lay on the bed. He slept there for two hours. It felt so good having him fall asleep in my arms. <3 p="p">


On November 18th, 2012 Cam got the bright idea to use his diaper as a tool belt! His sissy soon caught on after watching him struggling to get them all back there. It was quite funny watching him maneuver his body around to get the few he did back there. I love them to pieces! I want to remember these "little" things forever!

Our Routines

Since school has started and I'm home now our schedules have changed so much. I have been meaning to type out a blog and have a record of it all too so here goes.

This is out typical weekday routine.

I wake Karli up about 6:15a.m. She gets up, gets dresses, sometimes gets her a bite to eat or something to drink(she's not a breakfast eater like me), brushes her hair and teeth and then comes back to the living room and watches some tv.(iCarly, Wizards of Waverly Place). She goes over to her Aunt Joyce's house right before 7a.m. We go and pick her up from school around 3:15p.m. and she comes home and gets her a snack. She will then do her homework if she has any and then plays on the computer or goes outside to play with friends(usually riding her bike, going over to Norah, Aunt Candy, Memaw or Kelsey's house, swinging or jumping). Sometimes she watches some of her favorite shows which are either on the Disney Channel or Nickelodeon. A few of her favorites are iCarly, Wizards of Waverly Place, Jake and Josh, Kickin It, Pair of Kings, Jessie, Shake it Up, Gravity Falls, Hollywood Heights and a few others.

Cam usually wakes up anywhere from 7:30-9:30a.m. I change his diaper and then he sits in his bouncer(still in it although it touches the floor) and drinks either juice(I still dilute his juice about 15% juice and 85% water) or milk(sometimes choc milk as he calls it). He lays there and relaxes while watching any number of shows that may be on. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is still his favorite with Team Umizoomi coming in for a tie. Sometimes he will watch Doc McStuffins, Bubble Guppies, Dora the Explorer, Tickety Toc(kinda new), Go, Diego, Go and Handy Manny.

Once he's done drinking his morning drink he starts his adventures for the day which can range from him playing with his train to jumping on the couch, to chasing Keiser and hitting him with something, to pushing the kitchen chairs up to the counter to climb up on it, to going in and out the door playing on the trampoline or outside.....and lots of other things. LOL!  Seriously he does all of that but sometimes not in the same hour. He loves me to read to him, put puzzles together, drive his trains around the kitchen floor, talk to me or build with blocks. He's busy busy all day every day. Typical boy.

We eat breakfast around 10:00-10:30a.m. which is usually one of his favorites, oatmeal or cheese grits with lots and lots of cheese and jelly toast. He then plays some more. We may jump together or go swing or walk around the yard. He loves being outside so it really doesn't matter what we do as long as we are there. I can just sit on the porch and be happy hearing him laugh. Lately he has been on this kick where he has to eat like 5 popsicles. He picks out a color and then sits on the steps on the porch with Keiser usually looking on begging for some.

We then will get a bite to eat for lunch around 12:00-12:30p.m. and that can be anything. He loves broccoli and I try and fix it a good bit but not so much that he gets tired of it. I will eat anything with cheese on it and I'm good. :)

I then let him relax in his room from 1:00-2:30p.m. Sometimes he takes a nap and sometimes he doesn't. We then go and get Karli and Kelsey from school. If he didn't take a nap earlier and I see that he's tired I will try and lay him down once we get home. I usually can rock him for about 10 minutes to tell if he's going to take a nap or not. He's often asleep after 5 minutes of me rocking him.

If he doesn't take a nap he plays with his sister, by himself or with us until we get ready to eat dinner which is usually around 6:30-7:30p.m. or around those times. Afterwards we either go back outside if it's not too dark and the mosquitoes are playing nice or watch our favorite tv shows. According to what time of the year it is we enjoy watching, The Voice, Minute to Win It, American Idol, a few reality shows on TLC(Karli is currently loving Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Breaking Amish(I don't like this one)) and of course anything on LMN. We do like watching Law and Order and a few other drama/mystery shows. I secretly watch reruns of the Golden Girls, Alf and Family Matters.

Cam then usually takes a bath and Karli a shower around 8:30p.m. Sometimes Cam likes to stay up until he's watched Team Umizoomi as they don't play it much during the day. He is obsessed with that show and has learned so much by it. Hoping he loves math!

Cam usually goes to bed around 9:30p.m. or a little before. He likes for me to read to him but sometimes he's too tired. Karli usually goes to bed around 9:30-10:00p.m. She keeps her tv on for a little while and then I go and turn it off when we go to bed.

I know our routine changes a little at a time and I love having things like this to look back on.

We did it....

I have been going over in my mind when would be the best time to convert Cam's bed from a crib to a toddler bed. Although, it's something I'd rather not have to do so soon(yeah I know he's 2 and most people convert sooner) but since he's been able to climb in and out for months I figured I'd better go ahead before he got hurt. :( I guess there's something about doing it that makes it seem all the more real that my baby is not so much a baby anymore and keeping his bed into a crib meant(to me) that he wasn't growing up yet or that I could hold on to it.

So earlier today me and his daddy got in his room and started taking the screws out. We had to move the mattress back up a notch in order for the other rails to fit into their appropriate places. He watched and I could tell he was wondering what was going on. Then once the side rail was completely off he screamed out, "Put it back!" I started laughing and telling him he was going to have a big boy bed(although I was really wanting to cry but I didn't). I said, "Do you want a big boy bed?" and he said, "No put it back on." This boy of ours is truly smart. He had tears welling up in his eyes. Then almost instantly they were gone and he was jumping up and down on the mattress.

We soon had it all put together. Cam grabbed his blankie and sat on his bed then demanded his juice. He was smiling and giggly. I was finally feeling a sense of relief that it was gonna be okay. He was gonna like his big boy bed after all. Not long after I took the first picture above he grabs his train set and puts it in his bed. I think he was excited that he could get up and down without having to climb over.

He is now asleep in his new big boy bed and I am kinda sad that I didn't get a picture of him in his crib for the last time last night but it was a spur of the moment thing. Thinking back on it all today makes me smile though. I am always incorporating dates and numbers into everything trying to make logic of it all and I was trying to figure out if 10/9 was a good number to make me feel at peace with making such a huge change. So I started trying to remember if there was anything I could think of that that number/date could represent. Then I asked my hubby what 10/9 meant as far as the 10 Codes and he said Repeat. I was like "Oh yeah a repeat of all of this would be amazing." ;) So glad I didn't get this spur of the moment feeling on 10/10(which means fight). LOL! I can only imagine what bedtime might have been like.

 

29 Months!

So my little booger butt is officially 29 months! I am to the point now that I have to go back and count from April to add the months up just to make sure that's his age. I just can't get over how fast time is flying. He is learning new things and it amazes me every day!

He has since started really feeding himself(I just liked feeding him) and he loves it. He talks in longer sentences now. A few of his favorite things to say are, "Keiser peed in here," "Momma chocolate milk," "Want go outside," and "More juice momma." He loves to get out of his crib and lay at the door looking under it and calling our names. He often wakes at night and wanders through the house(wonder who he gets this from) or comes straight to our room to tell me he has peed. He does scare me when he does this! He dresses himself and loves picking out his clothes, wearing sock and shoes. He tells me all the time to "Put shoes on momma." Oh and organization; he loves organization! I mean this child has to have everything in it's place. If someone leaves a paper towel on the table he will get it and take it to the trash. He even will ask can he throw things in the trash. If his clothes get dirty he takes them to the laundry room. If something is on the floor that belongs in a drawer he will put it there. I love it! :)

His naps are few and far between now. Well they have been for about a month now. He usually lays in his bed, stands in the window, dumps all his toys out, empties his drawers, sings or talks to himself rather than taking a nap. :)

This afternoon we got outside for a bit. He of course was trying to find the airplanes(haypanes) that he kept hearing in between chasing Keiser with his dump truck!

He weighs 30lbs. even and his height is marked on his wall. I have yet to measure it to see how tall he is. Happy 29 months Sugar Booga!

Books and more Books

I have to say that I just love the fact that my son seems to have my love for books. He will disappear on me and when I go to find him he will be tucked away in a corner, sitting in his(my rocker glider)chair or in the middle of the floor with a book just a reading(or what I would call reading since he's only 28 months). He has always played with books and loved looking through them ever since he was a baby. I am so amazed by how much he's intrigued with them. Can you tell I'm just excited?!

Several weeks ago I picked through all of Karli's books and took all the ones that were below her level out. She has tons of books. I tried pushing books and reading on her but it never stuck with her. She reads to get by at school but doesn't love doing it. So now Cam has many many books to look at. He's one happy bud.

So a few days ago he finds Goodnight Moon. Oh boy. It just piqued his interest and he has fallen in love with that book. He's always saying "Read G'Night Moon momma."

Tonight before bed I asked him, "Do you want momma to read Goodnight Moon?" He looked at me and then his daddy and gave off this huge smile and said, "Read G'Night Moon." I was so happy. So after giving daddy and his sissy hugs and kisses we went to his room. I got his blanky and wrapped it around him and began to read it. He sat there, leaning on my chest, so still and quiet. He was listening to every word. Close to the end of the book he started helping me turn the pages. When I was done I put him in his bed and he was off to sleep. I see this being an every night thing and I love it!




So after I came out of his room, Karli wanted to read me another chapter from her book. She's required to read so many pages each school year and although she doesn't like to read at all, she does do it. So we sat on the couch and I listened to her read me a chapter from Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig. She can read fairly well for someone who doesn't care to read for pleasure. She even wanted to read to me like her teacher does, where she holds the book to her and then shows me the pages once she's done reading the page.

I even took a little bit of video of her reading. When she realized what I was doing though she wasn't too happy. I just want to remember all of this. I can remember being in school and loving reading my books. They'd take me places that I'd never been and I could read about people and their lives. I loved the adventures I'd go on and my imagination would soar. I just wish she could have that same level of interest with books as I did. Either way I'm just glad she can read and will do it if she has too. I'm very proud of her.

Our Beach Vacation 2012

We set out on our vacation early Friday morning, August 3rd. The trunk was packed with pillows, covers, suitcase, cooler, float, box fan and a few smaller items. The kids were in the back seat strapped in a ready to go! We had to make a quick trip over to fill up the car and then we headed out toward our friends' Keree and Russell's house, they pulled out behind us and we were off to the interstate. We made our usual stop by Hog N Bones to get some breakfast before actually starting towards the beach. :)



The ride there was uneventful just like I like it. No bad weather, no crazy drivers(well there was one), no unexpected stops other than the usual rest stop.

We got to our condo around lunch and checked in.



We then set off to Pier Park. Boy was it hot!!! We strolled around for a bit and we also got us some chocolate at Kilwins! Oh man that's some good chocolate!



We then went to Schooners to eat. The kids had fun coloring and throwing crayons(Cam!). Cam also had a good time watching the band set up all of their instruments for the music later that night.







We went to Walmart to get some snacks and the kids an airbrushed shirt; I also picked up some items to go in Cam's room once I redo the theme, then headed back to the condo so we could swim and swim some more! We went to the kiddie area and let the kids play. They loved it! We then went on over to the big pool and stayed there a bit before going back to the room.











































Saturday the guys got up that morning and went to get us all some breakfast. We all then went to the beach, rented some chairs and swam in the ocean for a long time. The condo had oldies and some newer songs playing really loud and it was nice to sit on the beach listening to it! It rained a few times here and there but the kids weren't phased by it. Have you ever stood out in the rain at the beach where there's a constant breeze? That's some cold rain!













This picture is totally hilarious to me! He was trying to hold in his pee pee. Then he just couldn't anymore and squatted like this. LMBO!!











We took the kids back to the kiddie area before going up to the room to get a snack. In between trips we tried to get the kids to take a nap but Cam wasn't having it! LOL!











We all got washed up and showered then went out to St. Andrews to snap a few family pictures then we were off to Spinnaker to eat! I just LOVE their food, the atmosphere and appearance! I ate way too much and still had some to take back to the room.

















After eating we went back to Walmart to pick up the kids' shirts and then we went back to the room to drop off the leftover food. We stayed there for a bit before going out to the pier.









We walked up the pier and watched the people fish. Cam was amazed at how he could see the fish/stingrays down below us. That pier is quite high and very long so needless to say me and Cam(I was wearing him with a hurt back in the Boba) didn't make it all the way to the end. ;) I managed to get a great shot of the view back towards our condo....way way back towards it. LOL!



We went across the street to a shop where I bought some more memorabilia for Cam and Karli's room.







After we left there we stopped by Dippin Dots and got us some. We sat outside and ate while watching the cars and people on motorcycles and scooters go by. Cam enjoyed that!

I got up before the others on Sunday morning and was getting my camera out when I heard Cam moving around trying to wake up. I was able to get this shot before he even opened his eyes. LOL! And yes he always wakes up smiling! :)



Soon everyone was up and we started loading the vehicles with our stuff and then checked out. This picture was taken right before we walked out. It was about the 3rd time I attempted to put his shirt on. He would rather be naked.



We went by Krystal to get us something to eat before we headed home. The kids slept almost the whole way back.









All in all we couldn't have asked for a better vacation. I had so much planned; Shipwreck Island, Gulf World, Captain Anderon's Shell Island and Dolphin Cruise but after mentioning all of this to Karli she said she didn't want to do any of it. I asked her what she wanted to do the whole time and she simply said, "Swim in the ocean." So just goes to show you you don't have to spend all kinds of money for kids to have fun and enjoy themselves. All that matters is that we had an awesome time and memories were made!