Team Cameron

Monday Maddi Edition #75~Missouri

2012-02-07T21:10:00.001-05:00

Monday Maddi took her first LONG road trip to Missouri last weekend. She thoroughly enjoyed the road trip and 10-11 hours in the car was not long to her at all, now, her mother on the other hand didn't really agree with her! We loaded our entire house into our car early Friday morning and headed down to Lake Ozark, MO. We were making a quick weekend trip to be a part of Jeff's grandfather's surprise 80th birthday party. Most of his mom's family in MO has never met our kids, so we knew this was a great opportunity to introduce them to everyone as well. Friday we made it into town spent the evening relaxing. Saturday was the big party at one Grandpa A-Y's favorite bars, The Construction Site, so we headed there and waited for him to arrive. One of the cakes...

At the birthday party...waiting on the guest of honor!

Maddi, her grandma, and her great-grandma.

Surprise!!! It was his first time to meet Carter.

My two favorite boys :)

On Sunday after a big breakfast with the entire family we went out to the local FBO to watch Jeff and Brad take their grandpa up in a flight. This was a dream of Jeff and Brad's to give this to him as a gift...it was very special and something they will never forget! While we waited we grabbed some pictures of the cousins kids together...what does that make them?? Second cousins?? Carter, 4 1/2 months and Nora, 8 months :)

Me and Carter with Michelle and Nora.

Maddi, Carter and Nora...I just love how Carter will not take his eyes off his big sis!

Sweet girl!

Crazy boy!

After the ride...all the boys.

Jeff and Brad with Ronnie.

After a quick ear infection trip to the Urgent Care on Sunday for Maddi-it was awful. We packed up and headed out Monday morning to make our way home. Carter had a little bit of a harder time on the way home, but Maddi was awesome. In fact she cried when we pulled in the driveway saying she didn't want to be home, but wanted to go back to Missouri! Haha. She loves watching all the movies she wants, having snacks all the time, meeting all kinds of new people and getting to play with new toys everywhere we go! She is quite the social butterfly. Carter, on the other hand, was pretty excited to be home and slept forever Monday night! :)

Monday Maddi Edition #74~Sleepover

2012-01-24T21:29:00.000-05:00

Long time no post! Monday Maddi wanted to drop in and say hi and say that hopefully her momma can stick to her New Year's "goal" to update the blog much more frequently!!

This past weekend Maddi hit a new milestone in life, one that is sure to repeat itself an infinite number of times as she grows up. She had her first sleepover :)

First she attended one of her BFF's 3rd Birthday Party. Happy Birthday Brooke!

Carter partied with the best of them.

Look-a-likes???

Cupcakes with Gavin.

Maddi really thought Brooke needed help opening those gifts.

Finally time for the sleepover festivities. Brooke's mom and dad were off on an overnight date night while she and Maddi had a blast at our place. After hours of playing they had dinner with a neighbor friend, Bella, and Jeff.

The girls were SUPER excited for movie night. Complete with popcorn, a Reese's cup and Tangled! What could be better???

It must be good!

Time for bed...Jeff made them a tent to camp out under in their sleeping bags and watch the stars (Maddi got the star making lady bug for Christmas-a big hit). This lasted for about 2 hours....they told storied, pretended to be animals, princesses, mommies and daddies-it was quite comical to listen to. The before picture.

The after picture...I finally had to separate them. Maddi in her bed and Brooke on the floor, they fell asleep about 5 minutes later!

They both slept all night long! Sunday morning the girls went to Sunday school together and had so much fun.

I would call it a successful first sleepover for sure! Maddi is so lucky to have sweet friends like Brooke to make such special memories with...and I just love getting to watch!

Monday Maddi Edition #73~FOOTBALLLLLL

2011-12-05T22:14:00.002-05:00

Monday Maddi loves to watch football with her daddy and the newest Cowboy's (Aggies and Falcons) fan!

The First Week

2011-12-02T22:44:00.000-05:00

Well two children has just done me in! haha no, but it has put blogging on the back burner, if you know what I mean. Its time, once again, to play catch up.

My fabulous little sis did a great job introducing the newest member of our family and now I am here to tell you a little more about him and his journey these past few weeks...so here is the first week.

As some of you know, I found out at the beginning of my pregnancy that I have the antibody D in my blood. I am RH- and Maddi was RH+, I received the RhoGAM shot at 28 weeks but when I went into the hospital to deliver Maddi, I already had Anti D in my system...so they think I had a placental break large enough that the RhoGAM did not cover it. When the doctors here saw the levels of Anti D in my system through my first blood test they sat down with me to discuss all of the possible issues with my pregnancy and with the baby after delivery. They changed me to a high risk pregnancy and started monitoring me much closer. We soon found out that we were having a boy and after a new blood test that extracted Carters blood from mine...we found out he was also RH+, meaning my blood would see his blood as an intruder in my body and start to attack it...making him anemic. We just had to wait and see how he would react. So, that's what we did...ultrasounds every two weeks, dr. apts after them, then at 32 weeks ultrasounds/visits and stress tests every week. They were monitoring an artery (MCA Doplar) in Carter's head for the rate of his blood flow to determine anemia. Many babies with this issue need an in utero blood transfusion when they become anemic and some only need them after they are delivered. We knew that the in utero transfusions were invasive, dangerous and very scary, so we are sooooo very blessed and thankful that Carter did not need one of them. We were told that these babies are usually born very jaundice and have to have light therapy after birth. We found out that I would be induced no later than 37 weeks because of the risk of anemia going up, fetal monitoring becoming harder to do (baby is too big), and the ability to do an in utero blood transfusion was much more difficult (again baby is too big). So, with all of that information we decided it was best to deliver at a hospital that could handle anything that came up...meaning off base. At 35 weeks(we stayed on base until this point) we found a great group of maternal fetal doctors off base and decided to deliver at Miami Valley Hospital. Once we made that decision a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders and God really began to work and lay out a plan for us-his perfect plan for our labor and delivery. It was a little strange choosing a new doctor so late in the pregnancy and even more surprising that they would take me on that late...God was in control. I only met Dr.McKenna once...at my 36 week apt he was in surgery (appendectomy) and I was in labor!

Meet Carter. He came into this world quite quickly, early, and loud! At 36 weeks and a whopping 5 lbs 13 oz he was considered pre-term and pretty tiny :)

A quick labor and really quick delivery left me no time to fix the hair or makeup, so excuse the look...but YAY! for a healthy little boy in between two happy parents.

I actually started having contractions at about 4am the night before, but had a drs. apt that morning, so I thought I would just wait and see what they said...we did, however, call Ronnie to let her know to be on stand by. On our way back to the hospital, knowing I was in labor, we called her again and she left right away. She arrived at the hospital right after I delivered Carter and we had her wait a little bit before coming in...but she was the first to meet him!

A little more of our story: some of you know I was sent home from the hospital after being monitored for a couple of hours in the labor and delivery triage dilated to a 3 and having pretty normal contractions around 1pm...to labor at home...or in my mind stop labor! haha. I am going to be real honest here and tell you that I had a hair apt that afternoon and I did not want to miss it...like I REALLY did not want to miss it. Jeff stood his ground and was not letting me go...thank goodness for level headed husbands free of hormones!! At about 4 pm, after a long bath and making sure I had everything packed for the hospital, I looked at Jeff and said " We are not going to make it" he replied, with a mouth full of sandwich, "Where?" and I said "to the hospital". That sandwich was thrown in the fridge(which we found it there 3 days later and had a good laugh) and he ran to back a bag for Maddi as I worked through some pretty amazing contractions! We jumped in the car and I called Allison Henley to see if we could take Maddi to her place...no answer. I kept calling and we drove to their place, where we left Maddi with Allison's dad and Brooke (Allison and her mom were shopping)...I was told later that he helped Maddi play dress up while Brooke finished her nap-so sweet! We are so thankful for the Henley's and their family for helping us out. Ronnie went to pick Maddi up and bring her to the hospital to meet her new brother! How fun it must be to go play at a friends house and then a couple of hours later have a new brother!!

We rushed to the hospital to find out that I was dilated to a 7 and fully effaced...they barely had time to set up the room and get an IV in me before the doctor came in and told me not to push while she ran out to put scrubs on. Since it was happening so fast I was told I could not get an epidural...TIMEOUT...what??? Yea, lets remember that we were planning on being induced the next Tuesday and having everything go as "planned". I just love that my children do this to me...both early! So, back to the no drugs comment...you could say I was a little freaked out and thinking there was no way I could do it, even Jeff was asking if they were sure there was no way. Haha. They did attempt to do a spinal, but right as they turned me over to let the meds work my water broke and he was here about 10 min later. 6:48pm to be exact...less than two hours after getting to the hospital. My sweet triage nurse, Helen, became my labor and delivery nurse...she told me later she had not planned on working in labor and delivery that night! lol. Because of C's possible issues there were quite a few neonatologists and doctors standing by.

Maddi helping Daddy hold Carter and shushing him as he started to cry...I couldn't even get her to look at the camera bec. she was too worried about him :)

We moved into our room later that evening and had our first visitor the next morning...my sweet client and friend, Gerri.

She was sooooo thoughtful and brought Carter some socks that look like tennis shoes and Maddi a dress up doll set! Maddi loved it!!

Our sweet little man, not even a day old yet.

As we expected Carter was born jaundice, but his blood levels looked pretty good.

The first night he had to go under the lights, they brought them in our room to cover his crib. He had to stay under the lights except when he was being fed. This also meant he had to wear his "goggles" and only a diaper. :(

More visitors on Friday evening...Robin

and Brian.

Saturday morning Britt stopped by! Saturday evening I was released, but they needed to keep Carter under the lights and they added more lights since his levels were still rising and his blood count was dropping, so he moved to the nursery and we moved to a parent room. These rooms are basically a twin bed, toilet, tv and breast pump (gotta have the necessities). No windows, no frills...oh and did I mention a twin bed-fabulous! We were actually very thankful that they had one open for us so that we could be close to him and I could nurse...not to mention it was free.

Jeff's mom stayed through the first weekend and my mom arrived on Sunday. Both moms brought Maddi up to see Carter on Monday. You can really see where his "goggles" were on and the jaundice is so much worse there...the lights really do work.

Feeding time was the only time we could get Carter out of the nursery, so Jeff's job was always diaper changing...since there wasn't much else he could do and it was the only time he got to spend with him :) Larry came by to visit us and partake in the diaper changing ceremony! haha

Back on the lights he goes....in the nursery he was on the billy blanket and under two lights. It was serious tan time.

Checking in on her baby brother, who, at this point, she thought lived in the hospital and wasn't really ever coming home.

After another trip to see Carter Maddi learned how the process worked and wanted to help as much as possible...taking C back to the nursery. We were not allowed to walk around holding him, he had to be in his crib.

Another view of the nursery light experience.

He was allowed to have his buddy...who he loves! All of the nurses went crazy over that thing. No one had ever seen it before and they thought it was the greatest idea. He had the most amazing nurses...many prayed over him, and they all loved and cared for him so well.

On another trip to visit Carter Maddi feel asleep on the way there, slept all the way up to our room and stayed asleep on our bed. We decided it was critical that we have pictures of this rare moment in time where both of our children were sleeping at the same time! haha

Carter spent the entire first week of life under light therapy and in the nursery. He didn't really act like a normal newborn...no crying, always sleeping, very difficult to feed. It was a rough first week for the rest of the family too. Jeff and I tried to juggle the feeding schedule and time at the hospital with going home to see Maddi and be somewhat normal. My mom did an amazing job helping us out that week, but it really did take a tole on us emotionally and physically. We really never imagined we would be in the hospital that long, but God was good and he provided us with strength and comfort when we needed it most.

Monday Maddi Edition #72~We are BACK!!

2011-11-14T22:31:00.006-05:00

Monday Maddi wanted to announce that we are back in the blogging world after a much longer break than anticipated! She also wanted to introduce her newest little admirer...

Carter!

We have some pretty big blog posts coming up that will catch you all up on Team Cameron's last couple of months.

And Then There Were Four!

2011-09-16T18:35:00.017-04:00

Hi friends and family! This is Jacci Statton ( Jessicas sister!) guest blogging on behalf of Monday Maddi and Carter!

Some of you may already know but Carter threw a huge curve ball at everyone and decided to make his debut a little earlier than expected! Both mom and baby are doing great -the Lord is so good!

I received a phone call yesterday around 7:30 a.m. from Jessica (which is alarming because that is far too early for her and Maddi : ) ). Of course I am obviously on baby alert so I answer immediately! She proceeds to tell me that she had some contractions throughout the night- nothing too big- and luckily she already had an appointment scheduled to see her Doctor. After she got to the hospital they decide to keep her a little while and watch her. I got a text from her that said, "Admitted to the hospital for observation, dilated to a 3". Of course, most of you know I recently got married so I obviously don't have any kids yet. I proceeded to Google (on my work computer!!!) "How dilated do you have to be to give birth?"Haha-I am sure my boss will love that one! Luckily, I did get to talk to her briefly while she was there and she was definitely ready to go home. Not only did she tell me that she would rather have the contractions in her own bed but that she had a hair appointment that night and needed to go home! (Oh the things the Lord must find really funny when He changes our plans!)

They let her go home around noon and that was the last time most of us heard from her. I called her at 3p.m. when I was leaving the office -no answer. So I am driving home and it just so happens that I am singing along to, "Girls just wanna have fun!" when I get a call from Jeff saying they were in the delivery room. I'm sorry sister -it seems ironic that you were having the exact opposite of fun at this point, but I know it was so worth it! Lastly, we received a text at 6:30 (Texas time!) saying Carter is here with this precious picture:

Carter Jeffrey Cameron: 5 lbs. 13 oz., 18.5 in. long

I immediately called Jessica (because I have no patience!) and she answered! She is such a trooper! She told me that everything happened so fast and the Doctor barely had time to put on scrubs! Wow!

Due to the earlier health concerns for Carter and Jess and since he has signs of jaundice - they are keeping him under these special lights and monitoring his blood quite often. Continued prayers for the Cameron family and Carter would be greatly appreciated!

Sweet baby!

Psalm 127:3 (NLT)

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.

Congratulations Team Cameron - he could not be more perfect!

And for all of the Aggies out there - please welcome the proudest new member of the fightin' Texas Aggie class of 2033!

*After talking with Jeff...Carter will actually be USAFA Class of 2033

Monday Maddi Edition #71~First Day of School

2011-09-13T22:07:00.000-04:00

Monday Maddi has a new experience to add to her list of "firsts"...PRESCHOOL! It's a big one, if you ask me :) Last Tuesday we had orientation. She found her name on the wall where her back pack and coat would hang.

She checked out all the new toys in the room and we worked on a scavenger hunt to help us get to know her classroom and teacher.

Then I left her to play while I attended a parent orientation meeting.

It was a great morning and we were getting excited for her first day all alone...well, she was excited, I knew it was going to be an emotional day :) The parents were "warned" in our meeting to not cry in front of our kids, but to do it in the car! haha Who are they kidding...I am 9 months pregnant and dropping off my daughter at preschool for the first time...good luck getting me to control the crying!!

Thursday was here before I knew it. Daddy came to see her off on the big day.

Back pack. Check.

Name card. Check.

Checking into class. Check.

Hugs for Daddy. Check.

Quick family picture. Check.

Tears for Maddi??? Nope. Tears for Daddy? Nope. Tears for Mommy?? Well, yes, but not as many as I thought :)

She did it! First day of preschool goes down in the books as a huge success.

So proud and still in shock that I have a preschooler. She has been my little running around partner for so long and I see those days fading way too quickly. Thank goodness she is doing much better with all of this change than I am.

36 Weeks~5K

2011-09-11T23:19:00.003-04:00

9 months down...wow! So hard to believe. We celebrated 36 weeks today by running...well walking for me, the Panerathon 5K.

How Far Along: 36 weeks

Size of baby: 6 lbs+, 18.5+ inches

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 23 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: BOY!!

Name: Carter Jeffrey Cameron

Movement: It has slowed some, but is def. stronger when he does do it...he KILLS my bladder. I know he is running out of room.

Sleep: OK...not good last night, woke up with back pain and some serious contractions...I had a talk with Carter and told him there will be no coming early! So we will see.

What I miss: Eating anything I want...heartburn makes me really think about my decisions!

Cravings: Caffeine and some sweets again.

Symptoms: The same. Still feeling like and looking like he is going to fall out any day now :)

Best Moment this week: Maddi told me (after giving Pongo a few good rubs) that she is really excited for her little brother to be here! She always tells me how many things she will get to teach him and everything that he will not be able to do that she can do. :)

Pongo/Carter is the size of a Crenshaw Melon this week.

Maddi and I got invited to walk the Panerathon 5K this morning with GiGi and her mom, Melanie, so we did that while Jeff ran it. Here he is running past us on his way to the finish line!

All of us after the race...yea, that race number didn't really fit over Carter. Maddi...well all of us...loved all the Panera food set up after the race. Yummmm.

After doing some serious Carter-room finishing we went to Babies R Us to pick up Maddi's new bed rails. It is time for the full size bed. She asked to ride this innocent looking baby elephant before we left and well, the start took her a little by surprise. :)

But, she ended up enjoying the ride.

This is our last full week as a family of three and I will admit that it's bittersweet...we are so excited to meet Carter, but all of these changes are never easy. Please pray for our time together this week and for Maddi as we prepare her for a new baby brother!

35 Weeks~Welcome Dustin!

2011-09-06T23:16:00.003-04:00

35 weeks is here! Only two more updates before he makes his debut...here are our stats!

How Far Along: 35 weeks

Size of baby: 5.25 lbs+, 18+ inches

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 22 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: BOY!!

Name: Carter Jeffrey Cameron

Movement: It has slowed some, but is def. stronger when he does do it. I think he is running out of room.

Sleep: Better...I am very tired these days.

What I miss: Eating anything I want...heartburn makes me really think about my decisions!

Cravings: Caffeine.

Symptoms: The same. Still feeling like he is going to fall out any day now :)

Best Moment this week: Getting his crib put together and finally seeing his room come together (pictures to come).

Cater/Pongo is the size of a honeydew melon this week.

Since I have no pictures of myself from Sunday, I am going to to show you a couple of us (from Thursday) with my sweet friend Leigh Ann who fled Hurricane Irene at 40 weeks pregnant to deliver precious little Dustin here in Ohio only 48 hours later! She is one amazing lady and you can check out her story and her fabulous family here. We were stationed together at Laughlin AFB where we were in a bible study together with some other fabulous AF ladies (side note on our group: 6 of us are pregnant/having babies now of about 8 in the original group and all 6 are BOYS!!). LA is from Xenia, OH originally...so she helped me get acquainted with the area and introduced me to her family when we first moved here. I love that we get the chance to see each other when she comes in town to visit. Us with Dustin.

Us with all the kids...Carter will be joining us soon! Congrats LA, we are so happy for yall! PS-yes, she did just have a baby 4 days earlier...looking so amazing :)

34 Weeks~Pizza

2011-08-30T22:24:00.001-04:00

34 week stats...

How Far Along: 34 weeks

Size of baby: I am guessing close to 5 lbs., 18+ inches

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 20 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: BOY!!

Name: Carter Jeffrey Cameron

Movement: Yes, the take your breath away kind and so many hiccups.

Sleep: The labor dreams have started, so its hit or miss.

What I miss: Eating anything I want...heartburn makes me really think about my decisions!

Cravings: Caffeine.

Symptoms: He must have dropped even lower in the past week because I have been getting some comments "you are carrying a basketball, bowling ball"...you can insert any of large ball into this phrase and I heard it last week. I also got "Oh wow he is LOW" So I am thinking I am looking a little different. I can tell...I can't walk up the stairs without feeling like I am kneeing him in the head!

Best Moment this week: Having Maddi pray for Carter and tell us how much she loves him...hopefully this will last :)

Just a quick picture of the soon to be BIG SIS!

Carter/Pongo is the size of a cantaloupe this week...maybe that was something I should have been told that I looked like I was carrying around!

Here we are at 34 weeks.

Sunday evening we headed over to our friends house for a "make your own pizza night". Our Young Families Class at church plans this get together each year, so we have been looking forward to it. Bring on the toppings...

Enjoying the food.

Enjoying the company.

These two have so much fun together...blowing bubbles

and playing on the swing set.

Some of our bible study girls...they were all pregnant in the past year...I am the last one! haha

Finally, a great picture of the whole group...we are so blessed to have them in our lives! Don't even try to count all the kids you will get lost. :)

33 Weeks~ALONE!

2011-08-24T22:40:00.000-04:00

33 weeks is here! Hard to believe we will be meeting him in just 4 short weeks...here are the stats!

How Far Along: 33 weeks

Size of baby: Over 4 lbs, 17+ inches

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 18 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: BOY!!

Name: Carter Jeffrey Cameron

Movement: Oh yes, and he is low...hanging out on my bladder!

Sleep: Going pretty good again...must be wearing myself out more.

What I miss: Being able to get up and down easily, bending over to get things, move things, tie my shoes easily... haha a lot of things, but still so worth it!

Cravings: Caffeine.

Symptoms: The same as they have been, nothing too new. Just feeling HUGE overall.

Best and Worst Moment this week(read on...): Spending time with my two boys alone :)

Speaking of alone...Ronnie came in town last Wednesday to help me paint Carter's room. She stayed until Friday after Maddi's swim lesson. We were at lunch when she asked me when she would be able to take Maddi back with her. She has asked us a few times about that and we have never been ready, honestly, I didn't know if I would ever be ready. Joking I said "today" and she said ok! I didn't think it would ever actually happen, but then a couple of phone calls later and asking Maddi if she wanted to go...I found myself packing her bag for a weekend at grandma's.

She was more than excited to go...as hard as that was on me :( She packed her pack pack with her fav. stuffed animals and her tito, purse in hand, and new tennis shoes on (from grandma) she really was ready to go. I set her car seat up, got her DVD playing and waived goodbye to one very big three year old. Then I cried. I cried the rest of the day! WOW I had no idea how hard it would be, yes I am VERY pregnant, but really...I missed her so much. I have left her places before and for much longer, but she has never left me. I was alone for the FIRST time in our house and it was way too quiet!

She, on the other hand, did not feel the same way...she didn't get homesick at all and would hardly talk to us when we would call . Friday afternoon/evening was the hard part...I think Jeff thought something was seriously wrong with me! haha. Saturday morning woke up a new woman and Jeff and I had the best day together. We set up Carter's room, set up Maddi's new playroom in the basement, and went on a date night that night (without having to get a babysitter!!!). It was a really great weekend for us and we had no idea how much we needed it. She had a great time too...the zoo, church and I am sure a ton of fun we don't even know about! We met Doug and Ronnie half way on Sunday at lunch to pick up our big girl. We were so excited to see her and yet feeling so blessed for our short, but awesome time alone...since alone is going to be a thing of the past in a few weeks! A big thanks to the grandparents for helping us rip the band-aide off and send our big girl out for a weekend without us.

As for Pongo/Carter...he did stay with us all weekend and he is now about the size of a pineapple!

Another self portrait this week...at the gym pre-workout even! I have been told I look like I am carrying a basketball and a bowling ball now...I feel like it too!

One...two...THREE!!!

2011-08-19T22:26:00.000-04:00

Finally...our Happy 3rd Birthday post to Miss Maddi is here. It's a happy, fun, full-of-smiles, and pretty long birthday post...so enjoy!

Birthday-day breakfast.

You always have to have at least one gift to open at breakfast :)

Our beautiful 3 year old!

We made sure to do all of her favorite things on her day...off to the pool we went. She had to take a few birthday phone calls during lunch :)

Brit and GiGi brought cupcakes to share.

Enjoying every bite.

Into the pool she goes with her skateboard a.k.a kick board.

After daddy got home from work she got to open the rest of her gifts from us and some family.

A great birthday-day!

Now, for the birthday party...which we had the Saturday after her birthday. We choose a garden theme and it was a blast! Some outside decorations.

A lot of my inspiration came from Tracy over at The Sweet Peach Paperie and she designed all of the signs, labels, and thank you cards!

Welcome to Maddi's Garden!

Her new garden table from Papa and Namaw.

Onto the food area...Maddi in front of the sweet table.

Rolly Pollies=Oreo Pops

Dirt cake with worms :)

Daisy-O's=Cake Pops that were really supposed to look more like daisy's!

Cupcakes with bees and lady bugs.

Her fabulous garden cake...I was so in love with it. When Jeff brought it home I put it in the pantry to keep it "safe", well Maddi went in there to throw something away and found herself checking out her cake. Can you see where her little fingers made their way into the icing on the top left side??? Yea, she just had to make sure that icing was going to taste alright! haha I guess it really was her cake anyways!

Decorations and gifts from Arlene and Derrell.

Take home gifts for the kids...Garden Grub=granola, pretzels, gummy worms and either a bee or lady bug tattoo!

They could also choose either a watering can...

or a garden tool set to take.

Don't forget to grab your sprinklers! Loved how the water bottle labels turned out!

Miracle Grow=Pink Lemonade

The Summer Sangria in the watering can was a big hit as well.

Onto the food...or fertilizer as we called it. We served butterfly chicken salad sandwiches to the adults (chicken salad from Chick-fil-A was a huge hit and made it soooo easy). The flowers were PB and J for the kids.

We also had Chick-fil-A nuggets and meatballs. I planned on making three of the ribbon topiaries (centerpiece on the table), but after one took me FOREVER I changed my mind! It is cute, but man it was a lot of work :)

The appetizer or snack area was full of fruit, veggies, chips, crackers and cheese and plenty of dip! The rakes and shovels helped everyone dig in!

The living room with some of the decorations.

Outside...where all the fun happened :) It rained all day and literally stoped about an hour before her party and started again 30 min after everyone left...God was so good. We had beautiful weather. I didn't get to decorate as much as I would have liked outside, but I did do a few things...table with watercan, picture of Maddi and a sign saying "Queen Bee" and two of the potted pompom trees.

The BIG hit of the party was the Fun House and man did it live up to its name...some of the kids never came out of it. It was a great idea and we might just have to do it again next year...Maddi LOVED it!

Friends hanging out inside.

Sweet Brynn :)

The birthday girl.

The fabulous Messsinio family.

Finally getting the birthday girl to eat something and hang out with her for a few minutes!

The other huge hit at the party was the adorable butterfly pinata. Maddi took a few good whacks at it...and she was serious!

After letting all of the kids go at least once we let the bigger boys finish her off! Yay for more sugar!!

Sugar??? How about cake...time to sing Happy Birthday to our 3 year old!

Just for fun...her last two birthday cake pictures.

One

Two

Three!

I'm pretty sure that she loved all of us singing just for her!

Wish.

Time to dig in. The Cakery never dissapoints.

Daddy is always close by to help out with the cake feeding ;)

Happy.

Lovin' on her Miss Lyssa.

Alyssa and Brynn.

Jaymie and Micah.

Stephanie and Matthew.

Maddi loving on Devyn.

Opening some gifts and hugging her fav Brit with niece, Julia.

Trying to get a picture of almost all of the kids. From the left: Gavin, GiGi, Maddi, Bryson, Caden, Reid, Avery, Maggie, and Brooke.

Big cheese.

Caroline ran in and made it into this one.

Can you tell they are getting sick of us making funny faces and yelling "cheese"!

This sweet birthday girl had a great party!

Kelli and Abbie.

Saying thanks and goodbye to her BFF.

Finally a family picture!

My favorite.

The two loves of my life!

Happy 3rd Birthday sweet girl! We love you so much! XOXO, Mommy and Daddy

Thanks for buzzing by Maddi's Garden Party hope you enjoyed the pictures!!

32 Weeks of Carter

2011-08-16T23:06:00.005-04:00

32 Weeks??? Really, can I be 8 months along???? It is still hard to believe, then I look down at my belly and say yes, yes, I can be 32 weeks along! haha Here are my stats...

How Far Along: 32 weeks

Size of baby: 16.7 in, 4.1 lbs (his weight at his dr apt today-0.25 lbs more than the average)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +17 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: BOY!!

Name: Carter Jeffrey Cameron

Movement: Yes! Don't think this will change.

Sleep: Going ok...have started to wake up and have a harder time falling back to sleep

What I miss: Being able to lift things, move things, help out with all of this basement/Carter's room remodeling that is going on.

Cravings: Caffeine.

Symptoms: Plenty of movement from the little guy, lots of contractions and some hiccups. Some back pain is starting...this is how I know we are getting close to the end!

Best Moment this week: Finishing our basement and starting to work on C's room...so many fun things came in the mail for him...can't wait to show you!

Pongo/Carter is the size of a jicama this week...don't even know what that is!

My favorite little girl and I have been spending some quality time together...

When she is not soaking up the sun with the kitties...

Or all the animals for that matter...she still likes to be my photographer :O)

Pongo/Carter and me at 32 weeks taken by Miss Maddi herself.

Sorry to be so MIA on the blogging front. We are doing so many house projects before C gets here...new roof, siding, gutters, ceiling repair on the main floor, basement remodel and switching C's room from office to nursery! Not too mention the little things...like a new light on the post outside...Jeff was putting a new bulb in Sunday night and Maddi decided this was something worth watching like a movie! haha She has been such a trooper during this busy time. Many more before and after pictures to come of all the home improvements!

30 and 31 weeks with baby....drum roll for his name please :)

2011-08-07T20:37:00.010-04:00

Between basement remodels and baby showers these past two weeks have really been crazy...so here is my quick update on the blog :) I plan to do plenty more this week!

How Far Along: 30 weeks

Size of baby: 15.7 in, 3.6 lbs (his weight at his dr apt at that week)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +14.5 lbs (must be stress)

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: Yep, lots of it

Sleep: Going great

What I miss: Everything below my belly button...I can no longer see it! haha

Cravings: Caffeine.

Symptoms: Plenty of movement from the little guy, lots of contractions and some hiccups.

Best Moment this week: Seeing him at our ultrasound apt and watching him suck on his arm :)

Pongo is the size of head of cabbage.

Here I am with Pongo...taken later in the week, so more like 30.5 weeks :)

How Far Along: 31 weeks

Size of baby: 16 in, 3.8 lbs or more :)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +15

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: Keeping up the crazy kicking and hiccups

Sleep: Going good

What I miss: Everything below my belly button...I can no longer see it! haha

Cravings: Still my caffeine and this weekend my sisters/moms fabulous cinnamon rolls...they will change your life! Don't worry she is going to start a baking blog and you will not want to miss it :)

Symptoms: Same old thing...a lot of heel walking this weekend, so I guess I should add swollen feet to the list...that's a fun one.

Best Moment this week: Having my seester feel Pongo kick :)

Pongo is the size of 4 naval oranges this week...I would actually bet 5!

Another fun comparison picture (can't believe I am putting this up here)...here I am at 31 weeks with Maddi still really needing a tan! haha

Here I am at 31 weeks at the most amazing baby shower ever yesterday with...

CARTER JEFFREY CAMERON!

So, there you have it...we no longer have to call him Pongo, although we still will :) Maddi refers to him now as Pongo Carter...so that will work!

29 Weeks

2011-07-25T22:33:00.004-04:00

The third trimester is in full swing...here are the stats for week 29!

How Far Along: 29 weeks

Size of baby: 15 in, 2.5 lbs or more :)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +15.5 lbs (ahhhh make it stop)

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: Keeping up the crazy kicking and hiccups

Sleep: Going good

What I miss: Everything below my belly button...I can no longer see it! haha

Cravings: Sweets and caffeine. This stat really needs to change, but its not!

Symptoms: Time to make this stat a little more positive :) growing a life inside me may have some not-so-fun symptoms, but being given this amazing experience is not something to complain about. I get to feel him kick, move, flutter, hiccup, and dance around inside me as he grows into a baby boy...what could be better?

Best Moment this week: Spending time with Maddi (and Jeff) at Great Wolf Lodge...just the three of us had a little getaway...so this week was all about her!

Pongo is the size of a butternut squash this week!

Pongo and me...taken by Maddi!

Speaking of Maddi...she wanted to say Hi! Did I mention that she is crazy! haha

28 Weeks

2011-07-17T21:49:00.000-04:00

Happy 7 MONTHS to Pongo!! Wow...I can't believe he will be here in about 8 weeks!

How Far Along: 28 weeks

Size of baby: 14.8 in, 2.5 lbs or more :)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +14lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: Keeping up the crazy kicking and hiccups (felt them for the first time the other night)

Sleep: Going pretty good

What I miss: Bending over, tying my shoes, painting my toes with ease, carrying Maddi or picking her up easily if she asks.

Cravings: Sweets and caffeine. This stat really needs to change.

Symptoms: Contractions, some back pain, and running becoming very difficult :(

Best Moment this week: Today Maddi asked if she could feel Pongo kick her through my belly...he was asleep, so I told her I would have lay down and we would have to try to wake him up. I laid down and we did just that...shaking him, poking him and patting him...he woke up and kicked her hand really hard! She jumped and laughed so loud that I was almost crying I was laughing so hard with her. She talked to him and laughed more then explained to me that he was smiling at her through my belly button :) I think we will have to try that again and catch it on tape...it was priceless!

Pongo is the size of a Chinese cabbage this week.

Pongo, Maddi and I!

Monday Maddi Edition #70~Eat Mor Chikin

2011-07-14T21:08:00.000-04:00

Chick-fil-A could be a chart topping favorite on Monday Maddi's list of places to eat and I would have to agree. If you ask what she wants for lunch or dinner any day of the week she will tell you "chicken nuggets and french fries". Seriously, I swear, she does not eat those two items together very often. She does take in her fair share of chicken nuggets, but the fries are not around as much. We got to partake in some our favorite food with friends last week...the cow was out to say hi and the girls received some pretty cute hats too!

Fun times with sweet friends!

On a totally unrelated, but quite funny note, Monday Maddi has also opened her own beauty parlor. I went in and had my hair done, nails painted, jewelery and makeup put on...so did Daddy! Love it :)

27 Weeks

2011-07-12T22:41:00.000-04:00

27 weeks is coming in a little late, but here are the stats:

How Far Along: 27 weeks

Size of baby: 14.5 in, supposed to be 2 lbs. but we found out last week he already weighed 2.2 lbs...so I am guessing it is more than that now!! Makes me feel a little better about feeling/looking so HUGE lately!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +13lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: He is working hard at attacking my insides...esp. the bladder :)

Sleep: Going pretty good

What I miss: Bending over, tying my shoes, painting my toes with ease, carrying Maddi or picking her up easily if she asks.

Cravings: Sweets and caffeine. This stat really needs to change.

Symptoms: Contractions, some back pain, and running becoming very difficult :(

Best Moment this week: Having Maddi ask me if Pongo gets to go on our run with us...I explained that he gets to go everywhere that mommy goes. She said she liked that and that when he is a baby (out of my tummy I am guessing) that he can ride with her and she would hold him while I run-sounds good to me! I love the simplicity of her thoughts...they are so refreshing and innocent.

Pongo is the size of a head of cauliflower this week...or bigger since we found out we have a little chunker growing inside me :)

A quick iPhone picture of Pongo and me this week! Can you say...growing?????

A Few Firsts

2011-07-06T23:23:00.000-04:00

Doing something for the first time is exciting, exhilarating and often scary. Maddi has been doing that a lot lately and doing it well! She has been traveling into uncharted waters...

We started her in one on one swim lessons last week at our gym. She has a certain favorite swim instructor that we wanted to get in with before she moves...Miss Befany (Bethany :). Maddi loves her and really pays attention to her and everything she tells her. She repeats it to me all day long..."that's what Miss Befany says!". A side note first story: as we were walking into our first swim lesson a very cute, very shirt-less, male lifeguard ran past us and said hi...Maddi's head and eyes followed him past us and behind us and then, yep, she tripped and fell. She has the scraped up knees to prove it:). Tripping over checking out a cute boy was def. a first!

She has learned how to kick above water, hold her breath, put her whole head under water, float on her back and now we are starting the elementary backstroke!

I am so amazed by her ability to learn things so quickly...

...and with such concentration!

Maddi also had her first visit to the dentist's office. Glasses provided for sensitive little eyes :)

She has come with me to my last couple of appointments and loves my dentist, so I decided to take her to him for her first appointment. He told me to be flossing her teeth, so we have been doing that, but everything else was new. She did amazing...sat there like a big girl and let them count her teeth, polish, floss and even put fluoride on! What three year old does that?

She loved the "straw" that sucked all the water out of her mouth.

All done! Perfect check up, toy and new toothbrush in hand, smiles all around. I am so proud of her...they dentist can be a scary place!

On the 4th of July Maddi had her first encounter with fireworks. The past two years she was already in bed by dark, but this year she made it. We didn't go to a show, we just enjoyed some sparklers and poppers at home.

Her first sparkler...she would only help daddy hold it, not quite up to holding it on her own yet.

Throwing poppers/snappers, whatever they are called. She loved them.

Writing her name in air...gotta love firsts!

Monday Maddi Edition #69~Summer So Far

2011-07-05T19:47:00.001-04:00

Monday Maddi has been having a great summer so far and she wanted to share some her favorite moments with you...

Maddi and one of her besties, Ava, making the most of Aggieland!

Learning all about snails on a walking trail with Daddy.

Showing Daddy all of her moves at gymnastics.

A little showing off with GiGi too :)

Cooking for mom and showing off her first pair of Keens!

Loving all of the pool time with her bestie, Geege (as she calls her), and sharing blue slushies!

A little Bob the Builder driving at the grocery store.

A picnic dinner with Brooke...she is so glad B is back in Ohio!

Hanging out at the water park at Kettering Rec with GiGi, Brynn and Reid.

Sharing snacks is the best!

Mommy can't lay on her tummy, so riding on Britt's back is the next best thing!

Monday Maddi LOVES summer!

Since Monday Maddi was also the 4th of July, she's thought she would share those pictures as well :) All dressed up in red, white and blue.

Adding all of her bracelets and rings to her outfit, she told me "now I can be a mommy!"...I guess that means that mommy's wear a lot of jewelry!

At the Americana Festival...Daddy's shoulders have the best view of the parade.

I have been told lately that Maddi is looking more and more like me...

...I found this picture of me in the basement (we are cleaning it out for a garage sale) and Maddi said this "Mommy, your silly, that's not you, it's me!". I had NO idea we looked so much alike, but I guess we do. Just had to share :)

Monday Maddi showing off her singing skills in front of the entire pool!

26 Weeks 50's Style

2011-07-03T22:11:00.006-04:00

26 weeks today! We had a very busy day...from church this morning, to registering at Baby's R Us for baby boy Cameron, to a Sock Hop this evening...Pongo and I are worn out! Here are our stats:

How Far Along: 26 weeks

Size of baby: 14 in, 1 2/3 lb.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +11lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: He is working hard at attacking my insides!

Sleep: Going great

What I miss: Bending over, tying my shoes, painting my toes with ease!

Cravings: Sweets and caffeine-coffee is BACK!!

Symptoms: Contractions

Best Moment this week: Talking to Maddi about real names for Pongo and her not understanding why we really don't want to name him Pongo! Finally registering for him and kinda getting excited about some adding some blue to this house.

Pongo is the size of an English Hothouse Cucumber :)(don't think I even knew what that was before this picture)

So, I mentioned the 50's Sock Hop we attended this evening. One of my clients invited our family to her family reunion, which was themed "Nifty Fifties", so we dressed up in our best 50's attire and headed downtown to the America's Packard Museum. This was our first time to the museum and it was fabulous...so many beautiful vintage cars to check out. Maddi was DYING to get in one, unfortunately they don't let you get in them...well, except they might bend the rules when a certain brown-eyed three year old asks very nicely. She found herself a spot in the back of a 1935 Twelve Convertible Sedan...or limo as the museum man called it :) One just like Pres. Roosevelt would have ridden around in!

Poodle skirt and all...she was feeling quite special!

She informed me that her legs were too small for this big car.

Checking out the rest of the museum...a navy boat engine.

All smiles :)

Dancing the night away with my clients daughter, Mattie.

She found a car just her size.

The only picture we got of Pongo today and it is not a flattering one! My mom sent me a poodle skirt she made and used a while ago...well I intended it to go under my belly, but did not take into account how small of a waist my mother has...so, it had to go over the belly. I am not really sure what pregnant woman wore in the 50's, guess I should have done some research on that! It was not the greatest look, but it worked, and my poodle even had its rabies tag on!

Finally a quick picture in front of the 3 million dollar car! It was gorgeous. A fun night for all and getting to dress up is always a bonus.

Bachelorette Weekend Pt.1

2011-07-01T23:40:00.000-04:00

More wedding posts coming up...the bachelorette weekend is split into two posts because I just couldn't seem to fit all of our fun in one! For my one and only sister I really wanted to make it a fun, memorable...well, unforgettable weekend! So, the planning started a couple of months prior (since I didn't help throw a shower I could put all of my "eggs" in one basket) and she put her requests in...place, time frame, overall feel of the weekend. I took it from there.

The weekend before the wedding we, being the bride and all of the bridesmaids and house party, met in New Braunfuls to stay at a fabulous little condo on the river and enjoy a good time. As the girls arrived they picked up their "survival kits" filled with bottled water, sunscreen, a bachelorette weekend oath, a pink lay, and lavender relaxation lotion...just what we needed to get through the weekend!

The bride had a special survival kit with a light up ring, S wine glass and bride to be sash.

Friday night there was only four of us...me, Jacci, Arlene and Catelyn...we went to eat at Huisache (pronounced wee-sach not hoo-sach-ee like some of us thought haha!) and had a wonderful dinner then went to see Bridesmaids the movie, which opened that night...how perfect.

Saturday morning I hit up the oldest bakery in Texas, Naegelin's, to get our breakfast feast! This place was amazing and I can not wait to go back...the line was out the door.

What would breakfast be with out a mimosa...but wait, on this trip our signature drink was called The Statton...a mimosa with pineapple juice and a strawberry on top! Every good party needs a signature drink ;)

All ready...

Jacci was only allowed to drink The Statton out of her special glass :)

A few other fun items.

Jacci and Catelyn enjoying breakfast on our fabulous deck overlooking the river.

Arlene and I.

The rest of the party met us at The Retreat Day Spa for our morning of pampering.

I am ready for a preggo massage and a pedicure with my favorite seester.

Elizabeth, Christine, Catelyn, Jacci, Me and Kathryn-pedicure time!

After all the pampering was complete we made our way over to Gruene to The River House Tearoom for afternoon tea.

Gruene is such a fun place to visit...everything is within walking distance, so next we walked over to The Grapevine Texas Wine Bar for a wine tasting.

The whole group before we went in

Lots of fun things to shop around and look at while we decided on wine choices.

A few of us with the wine a rita...yummy! They even put them in plastic cups so that we could walk around town and shop, now that is smart! We did some shopping at the General Store and then called it a day.

All of us in front of Gruene Hall...we had a drunk old man in really short shorts take this picture, so I am impressed we are all in it.

After a busy, but really fun day we came back to the room to relax for a little while before headed out for the night. A few of us went down to the river to chat and hang out.

I LOVE this area...its just beautiful!

25 Weeks

2011-06-28T21:58:00.000-04:00

A little late this week on the Pongo update, but here it is...

How Far Along: 25 weeks

Size of baby: 13.5 in, 1.5 lb.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +10lbs(ahhhh I made into the double digits)

Maternity Clothes: Yep, wearing them full on now!

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: Crazy Cameron Boy-he moves all the time

Sleep: Still going good, but I have noticed when I get up to pee...he wakes up too...I hope we are not setting a pattern for when he arrives

What I miss: Bending over to reach things easily, laying on my stomach-pregnant women have a hard time getting their backs tan! Tying my tennis shoes with no problem :)

Cravings: Sweets and caffeine-coffee is BACK!!

Symptoms: Back pain in the evenings, contractions

Best Moment this week: Maddi talking to Pongo all the time and introducing him to a lot of people we meet...or just saying "I'm going to have a baby brother!"

Pongo is the size of an average rutabaga now!

Pongo and I this week :)

Sunday also consisted of a little bubble-blowing...thought I would share.

We are into the "why?" phase and the "I can do it all by myself!"...here was a perfect example of the second one.

We love bubbles...why do they make everyone smile??

Display Shower

2011-06-22T22:35:00.000-04:00

So, now that all the party planning is done for me for a while (Jacci's wedding and Maddi's birthday) I can get around to posting about them...you know me, I need to do them in order :)

Up first...or furthest ago, is Jacci's Display Shower in Midland. Let me clarify, since most of you reading are not from Midland, a Display Shower is a bridal shower where the gifts are displayed instead of opened by the bride during the shower. I thought that this was a common type of shower in the south, but have since learned that it's not just a "Texas thing", but actually a "Midland thing", so therefore I usually have some explaining to do. I think its a fabulous idea and lets the bride enjoy her guests instead of spending an hour or longer opening gifts in front of them :)

So, my mom and I went the night before to help set up the display of gifts and to make sure Jacci had a list of gifts for thank you notes. Onto shower day...

Gifts for her hostesses.

The spread.

Love these personalized cups...a nice touch!

Now for the gifts. This was the "casual" area.

As you can see there were plenty of A&M gifts...most of which were from me :) haha

The "nice" area...all her fine china, serving pieces, flatware and crystal. She got the hook up...seriously she got almost every single piece that she registered for :) How nice is that???

Grandma, Mom and I with the beautiful bride to be.

Yay for Morg coming to the shower...what a sweet friend I have :)

The bride to be with the moms.

Bridesmaids.

The Vallee girls.

Jacci with all of her fabulous hostesses...they really spoiled her.

Jacci and Grandma.

At the very end of the shower Cody came by to load up gifts and he brought Maddi! She had been hanging out with him all morning-she loves her Uncle Tody. She also loved coming in to see all the girls!

I feel so blessed that Maddi and I could come and be a part of this special time for Jacci...it was such a fun weekend!

24 Weeks and Dad's Day

2011-06-20T22:17:00.000-04:00

Pongo had a really busy weekend! We threw Maddi's Big 3rd Birthday Bash at our place Saturday evening and then cleaned up from it all day Sunday while celebrating Dad's Day! I think it may take me a week to recover-haha. Here are the stats so far:

How Far Along: 24 weeks

Size of baby: almost a foot long, just over a lb.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +8lbs

Maternity Clothes: Yep, I'm wearing them for the most part now :)

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: Crazy Cameron Boy-he moves all the time

Sleep: Still going good, but I have noticed when I get up to pee...he wakes up too...I hope we are not setting a pattern for when he arrives

What I miss: Bending over to reach things easily, laying on my stomach-pregnant women have a hard time getting their backs tan!

Cravings: Sweets

Symptoms: Back pain in the evenings, contractions

Best Moment this week:

Pongo is the size of an ear of corn this week!

24 week picture of Pongo and me

Maddi showed off her twirls in one of my old dresses on Sunday morning.

When Jeff saw her come out in it for church he said "Hello 80's!" without even knowing it was mine and that I really did wear it in the 80's! Ha.

Before church we had breakfast in bed in honor of Father's Day and the rest of the afternoon we spent enjoying our favorite guy. This included getting the most out of the bouncy house we rented for Maddi's party...a real FUN HOUSE!

Seriously...she can not get enough of it!

"Come on in Mommy, its your turn!"

Yea, I'm not sure how much Pongo will enjoy the jumping...but we tried it out!

Love this 3 year old and all the fun she brings into our lives.

Finally on Dad's Day he did what dad's do best...teach them something new :) Oh and by the way, since we are 3 now...we are picking out a lot of our own outfits and dressing ourselves...so this was one of those days!

Time to try out the new tricycle (and helmet) that Jeff and I got her for her birthday. She is telling him that it is too tight and she wants it on her chin, not under it...hunh???

Oh, like that...now she is happy!

Off they go.

Well, sort of...she gave up for a minute and told us it was faster for her to run (with her tongue out of course)!

Ha. Ha.

Back on the bike...she loves it and we love watching her learn and enjoy something new.

Maddi's dad sure is a special one and I hope he knows how blessed we are to have him! Happy Father's Day to my daddy as well.

Monday Maddi Edition #68~Dress Up

2011-06-13T10:36:00.006-04:00

Monday Maddi has been playing a lot of dress up lately. When she has the apron on (backwards its a cape, not an apron), purple high heels and crown then we refer to her as Princess Maddi. All of these items must be worn for her to let us call her that.

When she is hard at work in her kitchen making pizzas and cakes she wears her chef hat and we call her Chef Maddi. This dress up stuff is a lot of fun and really entertaining...

...but it's also tiring. I found Monday Maddi like this a couple of nights ago...the babies must have wanted her to sleep on the floor with them :)

Our Princess/Chef Maddi is turning 3 tomorrow! So we are in party planning mode...the big 3rd birthday party will be this weekend...a garden theme this year and I can't wait to share all of the fun details!!

23 Weeks

2011-06-12T19:59:00.005-04:00

This week I tried to search back to my pictures from Maddi...for a little comparison in size :) I was not as great at taking weekly pictures or doing updates then, but I did find one at 23 weeks...let the comparing begin!

How Far Along: 23 weeks

Size of baby: over 11 in, just over a 1 lb.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +8lbs

Maternity Clothes: Some shirts, but I am liking the fitted preggo look

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: Moving around a lot...Maddi says he does "HI YAH" in mommy's tummy while she makes a punching motion...I would have to agree

Sleep: Still going great

What I miss: Life without heartburn :)

Cravings: Chocolate

Symptoms: Just heartburn and still having contractions

Best Moment this week: Having Maddi sit on my lap and then having Pongo kick her!

Pongo is the size of a large mango this week!

Your photographer for the 23 week Pongo picture is the famous, highly sought after, the ONE, the ONLY...Maddi :)

Now, with Pongo...

Then, with Maddi...quite a bit "whiter" and carrying a little different...I feel like he is much lower, but other than that looking kinda similar!

22 Weeks and Strawberries

2011-06-06T22:47:00.001-04:00

I can not believe how fast this pregnancy is flying by...already at 22 weeks, he will be here in 14 short weeks!!!! AHHHHH we are not ready yet! haha I guess we will have to get that way :) Maddi still calls her little brother Pongo and when asked what we should name him that is still her answer...so until we actually decide on a name, that's what we shall call him from here on out!!

Here are Pongo's stats this week:

How Far Along: 22 weeks

Size of baby: 11 in, almost 1 lb.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +6.5 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Some shirts, but I am liking the fitted preggo look

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: He is CRAZY! This kid moves all the time.

Sleep: Still going great

What I miss: enjoying food with no heartburn after!

Cravings: Chocolate

Symptoms: just heartburn and still having contractions

Best Moment this week: laying out at the pool with Maddi and Pongo

Pongo is the size of a spaghetti squash this week!

On Sunday we did a little photo shoot...

All of us

The pretty pretty princess :)

Finally, a shot of Pongo!

A little weekend update: on Saturday we drove up to Troy, OH to attend the Strawberry Festival...strawberries greet you when you exit the highway and they even have pink water at the fountains in downtown!

If you LOVE strawberries this is the place for you...you can find any and everything with strawberries that you could ever imagine.

What??? The bar-b-q sauce no, but the butter, maybe :)

Oh yes...you have to try a loaded (with butter and whip creme) deep fried strawberry (pregnancy excuse coming out right now :)...

so we did...and that will be a first and last!

Maddi enjoyed some time at the kids play area...

...but the lines and heat proved to be too much for her.

After some sweet tea (she is southern after all) she informed us she was hot and ready to go home!

We heart strawberries!

Memorial Day (Monday) Maddi Edition #67~Lovin' the Red, White and Blue

2011-06-04T21:58:00.001-04:00

Memorial Day Maddi enjoyed the sunshine with friends and family...

...she was lovin' the red, white and blue!!

We had a little backyard bar-b-q with a couple of good friends. The kids played in the sand and sprinkler...or in Maddi's case ran around the sprinkler, but never through it!

Kelli and Abbie having strawberry shortcake!

Its been a long time, but we welcomed back the Henley's to Ohio...at least for a little while. Maddi and Brooke have not played together in over a year, so we were pretty excited to get them re-aquatinted. The lawn mower proved to be a big hit.

Even Abbie took a go.

Gavin and Abbie on the hammock.

Brooke looking on :)

Finally...time for S'mores! Those just = summer to me!!

YUMMMMM!

I'd say they were a hit with Gavin.

Best buds again!

Memorial Day Maddi also had some time by the pool...our first day out there!!

GiGi showed up...so that made it much more fun!

Trying to snap a cute picture of the girls taking a snack break...Maddi explaining to Geeg that "you have to smile and say cheese when mommy is taking a picture!"

"See...like this!"

I would say our Memorial Day was a huge hit! We enjoyed every minute and I can't tell you how excited we are that summer is finally here!

We enjoy these freedoms because of so many who sacrifice so much for us-THANK YOU!

21 Weeks

2011-05-31T22:52:00.004-04:00

We made it to 21 weeks on Sunday. Here are the preggo highlights thus far:

How Far Along: 21 weeks

Size of baby: 10.5 in, 12 oz.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +6 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Belly band and some

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: He is CRAZY! This kid moves all the time.

Sleep: Still going great

What I miss: coffee

Cravings: Coke ICEE's

Symptoms: just heartburn and still having contractions

Best Moment this week: Having Jeff feel him kick for the first time :)

Baby Boy Cameron is the size of a carrot this week!

No belly picture on Sunday...but I did grab this cute one with my favorite little girl after church.

My mom requested this one...Maddi in her red, white and blue dress that she got her and Jeff in his uniform. Our church did a really neat Memorial Day Service and Jeff had to wear his uniform since he was part of it...helping the elderly onto the stage and helping usher others around. I just love this picture it makes me happy :)

20 Weeks

2011-05-25T22:46:00.000-04:00

I should be screaming...20 weeks...we are half way, but actually I missed that announcement a couple of weeks ago. He will be here in about 16-17 weeks, so we are over half way. Crazy!!!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 20 weeks

Size of baby: 6.5 in long(10 in head to heel), 10.5 oz.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +6 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Nope not yet, still the belly band

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: He is CRAZY! This kid moves all the time.

Sleep: Great...I am tired!

What I miss: coffee

Cravings: Coke ICEE's, snowcones...JJ's to be exact

Symptoms: just heartburn and I have started having contractions...super fun!

Best Moment this week: My SISTER'S Wedding!!

Baby Boy Cameron is the size of a banana this week!

Maddi's attempt at some belly pictures...

Oh wait, there it/he is!! haha

Now, one from me. I think it is safe to say that the little man has made his appearance. I have gotten plenty of "Oh wow you are really showing now!" since we got back from Texas. I guess he knew that I had to fit in my bridesmaid dress and then he could pop out all he wanted!! lol

19 Weeks On the River

2011-05-17T18:53:00.000-04:00

I am impressed that I am even getting this post up this week...probably wont get in a Monday Maddi, she is in Texas enjoying wedding week! We will be back to posting normal next week, but here is our preggo update...

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 19 weeks

Size of baby: 6 in long, 8.5 oz.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +4 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Nope not yet, still the belly band

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: He is a lot more active and I can feel it on the outside of my tummy too

Sleep: Great...I am tired!

What I miss: coffee, but trying out tea

Cravings: Coke ICEE's

Symptoms: just heartburn and pregnancy tired.

Best Moment this week: Floating the river...pregnant (ahhhh the looks :)

Baby Boy Cameron is the size of a large heirloom tomato this week!

Yes, I am 19 weeks pregnant and yes, I did float the river in a two piece swimsuit with my sister and friends for her bachelorette party...call me crazy, but we had a blast! I spent the entire weekend with Jacci and six of her closest friends in New Braunfels for her Bachelorette Party. We stayed in a condo on the river and had the best time. More pictures to come, but here are the ones from our float (Jacci's first time)!

Happy Bride to Be!

After we made it down the chutes and rapids we were good to go!

The weather was perfect, we went early enough to miss the drunken crowds and really enjoyed our float down the Comal.

Snow cones finished off our afternoon perfectly!

After we said our goodbyes, Jacci, Catelyn and I went to lunch with my sweet friend, Jenn and her perfect little girl, Lauren.

Jenn lives in the area and we have been great friends for years...this is my first time to meet her precious little girl and I was so excited. We had a great lunch catching up and hanging out. I am so glad we got to meet up! I just love them both :)

Monday Maddi Edition #67~B.U.S.Y

2011-05-10T16:31:00.004-04:00

Monday Maddi and I are having the feeling that we might need to slow down a little. It has been a busy few weeks and it is only going to get busier as we leave for Texas in just two days! So, I guess the slowing down will have to wait a couple of weeks...its wedding time :)

Busy Monday Maddi and I were invited to a Princess Tea Party at church. So, she got all glammed up (she helped pick out the outfit) and off we went...

Enjoying some tea (a.k.a pink lemonade). We enjoyed plenty of fruit, cucumber sandwiches, pb and j sandwiches, and fabulous strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Next up...princess pictures in front of the castle.

Time for some dancing with some other princesses.

Finally, some play time...

and crafts!

She was one very dedicated princess to making this bead necklace...I loved watching her string them on one by one. What a blessing this little princess is in our lives. I am so thankful for our church having events like these where we can teach our daughters about being the one true King's daughters...true princesses!

This past weekend was also a weekend to celebrate a great accomplishment by one of my good friends and clients, Lourdes. She graduated with her MBA from the University of Dayton.

Congrats Lourdes! We are excited for you...what an accomplishment.

Well, as busy as our weekend was, we are getting even more busy as the week progresses. Maddi and I head to Texas on Thursday to start all the wedding festivities with the fam! Hope I can throw in a few posts here and there!

Mommy's Day and 18 Weeks

2011-05-08T22:10:00.000-04:00

Moving right along...18 weeks here we come! We have our anatomy scan ultrasound tomorrow and we will be getting some other checks done on this little man. Here are the stats so far:

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 18 weeks

Size of baby: 5.5 in long, 7 oz.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +2 lbs-here we go

Maternity Clothes: Nope not yet, still the belly band

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: Fluttering, a few kicks here and there

Sleep: Much better

What I miss: coffee, but trying out tea

Cravings: Coke ICEE's

Symptoms: just heartburn and pregnancy tiered.

Best Moment this week:

Baby Boy Cameron is the size of a bell pepper this week!

Happy Mother's Day! It was baby dedication day at our church and we were so excited to get to watch four of my bible study girlfriends dedicate their baby girls! What a special day for these mommies.

Mhari with Aly, Kara with Audrey, Alyssa with Brynn, and Christi with Sara!

Maddi and I jumped in for a quick picture.

After church we headed to Lima, OH for a Mother's Day lunch with Ronnie and Doug.

Happy Mother's Day to another great mom!

Finally, to my mom...Happy Mother's Day! You are my inspiration, my hero, my mentor and my friend. I am who I am because of you. I hope I can be half of the mom you are :)

Of course I would not even be able to celebrate this special day if it wasn't for one VERY spunky, adorable little almost three year old!

I don't even remember life without her...she is my sunshine and the reason I want to be a better person everyday. I pray that I can be the Proverbs 31 woman she looks up to in her life. Thank you for making me a mommy, Maddi, I love you more than you will ever know.

Monday Maddi Edition #66~Aunt Titi Time

2011-05-06T21:38:00.001-04:00

Monday Maddi is arriving a little late this week, but she is still here and she has plenty to tell you about! Aunt Titi arrived last Wednesday and we had plenty of fun things planned to do with her.

Thursday we took Maddi to play with a friend and made our way downtown to Basically British to partake in a little tea in honor of the royal wedding.

Jacci is pretty excited about this fabulous place!

Our tea menu came out first...with 80 different teas to choose from! I went with the tea that the Queen serves in her royal garden and Jacci choose a black amaretto tea. Both were fabulous and came out in these dressed up little tea pots.

The food has arrived.

Our waiter, who was from Liverpool, explained why they choose every peace on the menu.

All were chosen in honor of William and Kate...their favorite items together or apart. All made fresh each day.

A hand made cookie with the symbols of the British Isles. Amazing. Everything tasted soooo good! We had a blast and really enjoyed learning a little more about the royal couple. I must admit that I COULD NOT WAIT for the wedding :)

We had to make sure Titi visited some our favorite spots...the Dairy Shed is a must!

Saturday morning I took Jacci with me to sponsor a 5K for PowerBar.

We had some really cute participants who loved their PowerBar!

One of my sweetest clients also walked her first 5K...go Gerri!

We also had our big race together in Cincinnati and came back to take Maddi to a fun 3D showing of Rio. On Monday we had to take Titi back to the air port :( The whole week was so much fun and was so busy I think it finally caught up to Monday Maddi...she just couldn't quiet make the trip home!

A Little Run in Honor of 17 Weeks

2011-05-01T17:07:00.007-04:00

Here we are at 17 weeks...or at least I was on Sunday. It was a CRAZY, busy day, but soooo much fun. Here are my stats this week and the race pictures at the bottom!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 17 weeks

Size of baby: 5 in long, 5 oz.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Race Day=not a good day to check wt.

Maternity Clothes: Nope not yet, but using the belly band with my regular jeans

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: Fluttering, but nothing anyone else can feel yet

Sleep: Much better

What I miss: coffee

Cravings: Coke ICEE's

Symptoms: just heartburn and pregnancy tiered.

Best Moment this week: Having Maddi pick out a blue Titoo for her brother...just like her lovey, only blue. FINISHING the half with my seester!!

Baby Boy Cameron is the size of a turnip this week!

On Saturday Jacci and I made our way Cincy for the Flying Pig Marathon Expo and Inspiration Dinner with Team in Training. We had way too much fun picking up our race packets!

Sent this to Jeff and told him to look forward to this in a year or less! Hehe

After a fabulous dinner and absolutely no sleep at all (who could ever expect to sleep the night before a race), we made our way down to the start of the race. Did I mention that we stayed in the hotel with the team because the race started at 6:30 AM! What???? Who does that? Well, I guess the better question is, who signs up for that!! Ok, so up at 5, down to the lobby for a team picture at 5:30 and then off to the Bengal's stadium for the start. We made sure to have a throw away, poncho and to get in the dreaded bathroom line the minute we got to the start.

Lori and I pre-start.

Jacci and I read to go.

In our corral and ready to go with the other 18,000 crazy people. Jacci and I with Heather and Lori. It was about 60 degrees and raining :)

Lots of hills, lots of rain, and 13.1 miles later-we did it! It was a beautiful course and lots of fun. Jacci and I kept saying that it went by really fast and we could not believe we were already done. We also beat my first half time (9 weeks preggo with Maddi) by 10 min!! Wahoo.

Our first race to start and finish together! I LOVE her and LOVED running with her! She is such an inspiration. I am so glad we got to do this together...many more to come :)

Oh...it wasn't just the two of us...little boy Cameron ran the whole 13.1 with us and he let me know about it a couple of times :) I just kept thinking that I should have put "little piggie on board" on my back!

Love my running partner...she is a stud! Two races done together...hopefully many more.

Walking through all of the post-race festivities we found the chocolate milk people and well, we had to get our milk mustaches on!

I guess I am done with half marathons...I have only signed up for two and during the training for both I found out that I was pregnant...so, I am thinking no more babies=no more half's! Haha we will see.

After a stop off at the outlets, Jacci and I made our way home...a little sore and very tired! What better to do when you are sore and tired??? A 3D movie with your favorite 2 1/2 year old! We topped off a fabulous day with a trip to see Rio in 3D. Oh, and when you run a half you get to order movie popcorn...lots of movie popcorn. Maddi showing off her 3D glasses and not sharing that popcorn very well :)

Finally, a baby bump picture...he is showing off a little more these days!

Monday Maddi Edition #66~He is Risen!

2011-04-26T21:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter from Monday Maddi and the whole Cameron Clan!

Maddi spent the weekend doing ALL things Easter. First up: the egg hunt at 5 Seasons.

She got all dressed up...

posed for a couple of pictures...

hunted for some eggs and then found GiGi.

Britt came by to say hi.

We love Miss Alyssa!

GiGi was a little bunny shy, so she required moral support from her BFF.

Maddi, on the other hand, was quite comfortable with the Easter bunny.

She even asked for candy right when she got off his lap!! Love this sweet picture :)

After a few crafts and a cookie to decorate we were on our way.

Easter morning-the Easter bunny was very nice!

All ready for church with matching Easter purse and gloves from Titi.

She really just wanted to hunt for more eggs.

Opening gifts and reading cards with daddy.

She loves her new glasses from Namaw!

love.

We went to an amazing church service and brought two sets of friends that have not been to our church before-it was awesome. After church we went to Easter Brunch at the Wright Patt Officer's Club with the Hray family. Michael and Devyn took Maddi to get a balloon creature made.

The Easter bunny showed up again!

Family Easter picture.

This shirt should say one crazy chick!

Sunday evening we went to a friends house for an Easter dinner with our bible study group from church. I had to bring a bunny cake...these were a staple around our house every Easter growing up. My mom is famous for them :), so I decided it was my turn to give it a try! All the kids loved it!

Happy Easter...He is Risen, what a great reason to celebrate!

16 Weeks

2011-04-25T23:44:00.006-04:00

It was a big weekend in the Cameron Casa. Saturday Jeff and I celebrated 6 years of marriage together! We went to dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse and then to see Water for Elephants...really good. We had a great night out and it is always fun to tell wedding day stories and look back on where we started! I am so very blessed to have him.

On Sunday we hit 16 weeks and celebrated Easter...more of those pictures with Monday Maddi...coming tomorrow. Here are the 16 week stats and I hope you enjoy the photos courtesy of the newest photographer in the house!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 16 weeks

Size of baby: 4 1/2 in long, 3.5 oz.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Back up to the starting wt.

Maternity Clothes: Nope not yet, but I did break out the belly band for our anniversary date night Friday night

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: Fluttering, but nothing anyone else can feel yet

Sleep: Much better.

What I miss: coffee

Cravings: ice cream,

Symptoms: just heartburn and pregnancy tiered.

Best Moment this week: Feeling much more "normal", date night with the hubs, enjoying my last run with Team In Training before the big race

Baby boy Cameron is the size of an avocado this week, must be a big avocado to beat the apple from last week :)

These are a couple of pictures from Maddi's photo shoot with me! I was trying to teach her how to use the camera...pretty good for the first time!

Just a little sideways :) haha

15 Weeks

2011-04-25T23:02:00.005-04:00

Working on my blog catch up...15 weeks was last Sunday and I didn't take a single picture! Sad. We did get a couple in the middle of the week last week, so I will put those on here. Stat time:

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 15 weeks

Size of baby: 4 in long, 2.5 oz.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: down 1 lb.

Maternity Clothes: Nope not yet

Gender: Boy

Movement: Finally a little fluttering :)

Sleep: Much, much better

What I miss: Coffee, eating food with no heartburn :)

Cravings: ice cream, smoothies

Symptoms: No more sickness!!! Still plenty of heartburn.

Best Moment this week: Feeling the little man move around

Baby boy Cameron is the size of an apple this week!

We attended Aggie Muster last Thursday evening and Maddi decided to get all dressed up in her maroon and white!

Gig'em...class of '30!!

A funny one with dad.

The only picture of me all week...sorry no belly! It was a fun night and we always enjoy being around other Ags! Whoop!!

14 Weeks

2011-04-25T22:58:00.000-04:00

Time for me to play blog catch up! I get into a bad cycle of not posting and, well, here we are three weeks later. I will catch you up with my past three preggo updates and then hopefully the rest will come along. 14 weeks actually hit when we were on the tail end of our Texas trip, so I didn't get a great picture, but here are the stats:

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 14 weeks

Size of baby: 3 1/2 in long, 1.5 oz.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: down 1 lb.

Maternity Clothes: Nope not yet

Gender: BOY!!

Movement: None yet

Sleep: Its getting better

What I miss: coffee

Cravings: ice cream...flurries to be exact!

Symptoms: nausea is getting better, heartburn is not.

Best Moment this week: getting to spend time with the fam(and Morg) and talk all things little boy

Baby boy Cameron is the size of a lemon this week.

The only 14 week picture that kind of shows the growing belly :) Morg and I before our girls dinner at The Garlic Press.

13 Weeks...and a Little Surprise

2011-04-03T22:25:00.005-04:00

We are moving right along...these weeks just fly by. Maddi and I have been keeping up with our regular, busy schedule. She had plenty of play dates with friends this week, we had a great ultrasound appointment on Tuesday and we had some sunshine and warmer weather this weekend. We are gearing up for our big trip to Texas on Wednesday for Jacci's bridal shower! So, here's the update this week...

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 13 weeks

Size of baby: 3 in long, 1 oz.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: still down about 2 lbs.

Maternity Clothes: Nope not yet

Gender: well, we might just know!!!

Movement: None yet

Sleep: I have not been sleeping well.

What I miss: Coffee, a great nights sleep with no bathroom breaks, a little vino :)

Cravings: breakfast foods, Gatorade

Symptoms: still nauseous...threw up this morning before I could get to my Zofran-yuck! Heartburn

Best Moment this week: having a great ultrasound on Tuesday...and finding out the sex :)

Baby Cameron is the size of a peach this week!

I attended a super cute baby shower for my friend Allissa yesterday, so here is my 13 week belly shot!

Oh....and I know I mentioned that we might have found out on Tuesday what we are having...a shock to both of us since we are not far along, but the ultrasound tech told us that she could tell us with 98% certainty that...

Needless to say, we are thrilled and feel so blessed. Jeff could barely contain his excitement in the room...it made me even more excited! I will admit that I had gotten a little giddy over the thought of sisters, but I know that this little boy will be the perfect addition to our family. Maddi called it from the beginning...and she was right! Now I have a definitive answer as to why this pregnancy has been soooooo different from Maddi's. This little guy is already putting me through the ringer! Ultrasound pictures to come :)

Monday Maddi Edition #65~Story Time

2011-03-28T21:57:00.003-04:00

Monday Maddi was very busy today. She had all of her babies or sweethearts, as she calls them, join her for story time. She pulled out some of her favorite books and sat down to read to them. It was so cute to watch. She even corrected the sweethearts when they were being loud or not doing what she wanted them to do. Do we have a teacher in our future???

Saying Goodbye to the First Trimester!

2011-03-27T21:59:00.007-04:00

We made it to week 12! A much anticipated week...in hopes that the nausea goes away soon :) The Zofran has really helped, but I am hoping to not be on it much longer! I am going to try these little weekly updates from here on out (we will see how that goes :)

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 12 weeks

Size of baby: 2 in long, 0.5 oz.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: lost 3 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Nope not yet

Gender: ??

Movement: None yet

Sleep: I have not been sleeping well.

What I miss: Coffee, a great nights sleep with no bathroom breaks, a little vino :)

Cravings: smoothies a little bit, but not much of anything yet

Symptoms: oh boy...nausea, tired, backache, heartburn...wow that will make everyone want to get pregnant!

Best Moment this week: having Maddi pray over the baby and give he/she kisses and hugs. Felling well enough to run 10 miles with Team in Training on Saturday.

So, as you read above, baby Cameron is a whopping 0.5 oz (this makes me really question the size of my stomach at this point)...basically only the size of a lime. :) God is so amazing. This lime will be a baby in 28 weeks-WOW!

Finally, the belly shot...I am feeling like I look a little more "alive" this week. We have an ultrasound appointment on Tuesday, so hopefully I will have some pictures of baby to show soon. Second trimester here we come!

Monday Maddi Edition #64~She's a Big Girl Now!

2011-03-21T22:22:00.000-04:00

Monday Maddi is all sorts of grown up these days. She sports fabulous piggies.

She hangs out with her bestie GiGi at the all the coolest spots.

She even got her first tattoo recently...she called it her "toot". Oh yes, and if you are wandering about the placement of said tattoo...that was not my choice!

She gets regular pedicures thanks to her mother's super pedicure skills and one very patient, very still 2 year old. Cajun Shrimp is a must in this house:)

The biggest "big girl" move we have had lately was transitioning from the crib to the big girl bed (aka toddler bed)! The before.

Saying goodbye to her crib with one last good bounce :)

A little help from dad.

Off it goes...

She hugged the rail and said "but I liked to bounce with you!"

Then she saw the transformation and was pretty pumped.

On to our next phase...she is truly a Big Girl Now!

Zofran+Me=Best Friends

2011-03-20T21:34:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned in my earlier baby post I have not been feeling well since about week six. Last week I had a late night sick episode and the rest of the week I fought it off. Yesterday it all went downhill. I starting throwing up around 4 and it just kept going and going every 45-an hour. It was awful to say the least and at 10pm I knew I could not handle it anymore. We called a neighbor to come sit with Maddi and made our way to the ER. They gave me fluids, took my blood, and then gave me the good stuff...Zofran! I never thought I would be so excited to have drugs pumped into my very weak body. Long night in the ER, but we finally made it home around 3am. Today has been better I have been taking Zofran and have only been nauseous once :) so, hopefully this is going to work! I was supposed to be running a 15K today, but this baby had other plans. Funny how we lose control over our bodies so soon in this process. I feel so awful for the women out there who deal with this all of their pregnancy- I can not imagine. I did have amazing help...Jeff took care of Maddi all weekend, went grocery shopping and sat by my side all night in the ER. I don't know what I would do without him.

Today also marks 11 weeks! So, I am going to try to put a baby bump picture up at each week from here on out...sorry, I still look pale and tired in this awful picture, but it does show the growing bump!!

Oh and its the First Day of Spring...Happy Spring! Here is to sunny skies and warmer weather! :)

Monday Maddi Edition #63~Maddi has an ANNOUNCEMENT...

2011-03-15T22:07:00.000-04:00

Monday Maddi has some BIG news to share...

Yep, thats right, she is going to be a big sister in early October!! We are about 10 1/2 weeks along and so excited to finally share our BIG news with everyone!

I actually found out while Jeff was out of town. I took a test late in the afternoon on January 27th, six days before I should have :), it showed up negative. I got in the shower and started praying about how long it might take us this time around, how our timing may not be God's timing, and how I really just had to let things go. Well, I got out of the shower to find a very faint, but very positive test! I am guessing God was saying to me "I just needed to hear you give it over to me and trust!" So, I found out VERY early on and decided to surprise Jeff when he got home a couple of days later. Maddi helped me make a sign...

We did some pink...

...and blue shopping!

Then hung it all up on a close line.

We had gone to eat at PF Changs a couple of weeks earlier and this my fortune...

So, I kept it, found a cute frame and added it to the presentation :)

Oh yea, and you know I had plenty of these to show off as well.

The final set up...now we wait...

SURPRISE!! He just kept saying "No way!" Then he was more shocked that I had kept it from him for 48 hours! When the shock wore off we stayed up late talking about names, dates and genders. It was an exciting week in the Cameron Casa.

Maddi def. understands that there is a baby in mommies belly...she talks to the baby, sings, gives hugs and kisses and has also managed to tell quiet a few people before we might have liked!! haha We went into Panera one morning for coffee and she proudly announced that she was going to be a big sister! The surprise on my face told them she was telling the truth and they were all really excited for us (I guess that tells you that we go to Panera a lot :).

I decided since it was our second one we could wait to share our big news with family and close friends...and surprise them in a fun way. So, I made these Valentines cards on Shutterfly and sent them out just in time for Valentines Day! We waited for excited phone calls and I must admit it was totally worth the wait!

We finally got to see baby #2 yesterday and he/she is looking good...moving around with a strong heartbeat! Monday Maddi was very interested in the ultrasound pictures and it was neat to watch her watch her future sibling! She is claiming it is a boy and that we are naming him Pongo...I guess we will see :) This pregnancy has proven to be VERY different from the first...I have been sick pretty much since week 6 or so and am hoping it will end here in the next week and a half. I am def. already showing (pictures to come) and I have never been so tired in my life! So, I am looking forward to the second trimester in hopes of no food aversion (I even hate coffee right now), more energy and finding out the gender!!! So many fun things to look forward to. We feel so blessed and can't wait to add to our family!

Running for TWO!!!

I fun little gift from one of my clients after I told her the good news. We are both training with Team in Training for the Flying Pig Marathon (the half for me). So far I have been able to keep up with training we will see what the body says as we push for 9 miles this weekend :)

Monday Maddi Edition #62~Tubes

2011-03-07T22:17:00.005-05:00

Monday Maddi has been on a blogging break...well her mom has been. It has been a rough past couple of weeks in the Cameron Casa, but I think we are back and ready to blog again! So, a few update posts...Maddi had her tube surgery last Tuesday morning. The hospital called to let me know that her surgery would not be until 11:45...that meant no food or water from 7:45 am on! That equals torture for a 2 1/2 year old!! I was really worried about that part, so we let her stay up super late and eat and drink what she wanted (like here...a donut at 9pm-yummm:)

After a quick ride to the hospital, watching Diego...to keep her mind off of the lack of food and water, we made it there with me only having to explain it once that the doctors wanted her to wait to eat until after they fixed her ears. :) My prayers were answered and she really is such a great little girl!

When we got into our room a hospital administrator came by and asked if they could film/take pictures of us and Maddi while we were getting her ready for surgery-they were making a video or commercial for the hospital :). Jeff signed the release form and they started snapping away. They shot video of her standing on the scale for her weight and height check and then stayed right outside of the room snapping pictures here and there. Maddi saw them at one point and turned around to flash them a big grin and say cheese...haha I'm sure they got a kick out of that! We don't have a very shy child and she was soon friends with half of the nurses and doctors that came by the room.

In her room, in the gown, pretty green bracelet, and daddy reading her a book...we are ready!

They gave her some "happy juice" and took her away from us at 11:21, the doctor was back in our room telling us that everything went great at 11:35 and they brought Maddi back in, with juice in hand, at 12. It was a nerve-racking, prayer-filled 39 min, but over all not too bad. I was upset that she was not waking up with us...they had her in a different room to wake up and brought her into us after she was completely awake-my least favorite part. No one wants to wake up and see a stranger, they want their MOM!! So, when they did bring her in she was very out of it and just wanted me to hold her, so that's what I did. :(

After another half hour of them making sure she could keep her liquids down they let us go home. Unfortunately, we did not make it all the way home before she threw up twice in her car seat-yuck. I felt so bad for her. We made it home and relaxed a little before trying the clear liquids and bland food. She managed to perk up quite a bit when Mrs. Robin left her a sweet princess bag full of goodies on our door. It was such a thoughtful gift and it really made her day.

After plenty of rest and relaxation with her favorite pals Monday Maddi is 100% again and feeling great! We are still learning the art of ear plugs, but plan on getting some made for her. Her doctor is pretty strict and says she has to wear them during all baths/showers and summer pool time until the tubes fall out. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers before and during the procedure-it really did go great!