Camren turns 1!

10 Things to know about Camren Grace Marie on her First Birthday

1. You are a ball of motion. Arms and legs are always moving, hands flapping, mouth screeching. You never stop. You are possessed with a deep desire to not only keep up with Jax, but to beat him!

2. Milk and Soy are not your friends yet. Both of these products in any form are eliminated from your diet at this point. You haven't experienced Meemaw's amazing grilled cheese or had ice cream with your Papa, but we hope that some day you will. As for now, you don't miss what you haven't tried. So while it's more work for your parents--you don't know the difference!

3. Speaking of food...you do love to eat! Perhaps it's because your formula was pretty awful, but you will eat just about anything that we put in front of you. You love tomatoes (which just grosses me out!) And like to pick bell peppers from our garden and eat them like apples!

4. You are FEARLESS. Pair that up with your need for constant motion and you've got yourself a fearsome duo. As a matter of fact, we don't frequent parks nearly as much as we did prior to your mobility. It freaks me out the way you will be at the top of the jungle gym in a blink of an eye.

5. Like Jaxon, you have a strong attachment to a stuffed animal, Your "baby". Baby is a pink...thing (not sure if its a bear or fox or what) that was hand made for your Christmas present by Aunt Becca. You love this baby and it goes every where with you.

6. Sand, dirt, gravel. Ya love them. You love to touch them, throw them and favorite of all? Eat them. I can't tell you how many times I have dug one of these items out of your cheeks. It honestly doesn't phase any of us anymore as you are told "Spit it out" at least daily.

7. You give the best cuddles. For as all Go as you can be, you are also the best snuggle bunny. You love to lay your head on the person holding you and tuck your arms underneath your belly. Daddy will hold you for hours like this and often jumps at the chance to put you to bed just to snag any cuddles you might have left.

8. Your belly laugh. It is one of the few sounds that bring me such pure joy that it brings me to tears often. Your laugh is a deep, froggy laugh that comes straight from your belly. It is a laugh that is so free and done with complete abandon and disregard for anything/anyone around you. I pray that you retain this laugh as you get older and people's opinions start to weigh on you. I pray that you will always laugh with total joy and carelessness.

9. Bright Blue Eyes. They are still a shock to me and are also the first thing most strangers comment on. Your eyes tell everything you are thinking/planning/scheming. Your eyes have already argued with me more times than I'd like. They smile and twinkle before a smile comes to your face. They glisten with rage when your brother has been unfair. They sparkle and are accompanied by an impish grin when you are feeling ornery.

10. Your strength, your drive and your independence. These are all things that I am so proud of (as much as they drive me crazy). You are a force to be reckoned with in so many ways. I am in awe of you. Your spirit, your spunk, your drama. You amaze me daily and even though that amazement might come with a "oh Camren" and a head shake, I still love the little person you are becoming and promise to do my best to help you along this ride.

Many apologies...

I know. I am seriously delinquent on my blogging. Let me explain...first the computer wasn't working. Got it fixed. Then it was the internet. Now that's cool (sorta) then it was that I was just plain in a lazy funk. And lastly...I regret to inform you that I have, again, lost a camera. It makes me sick to think about all of the pictures I am missing. I am keeping the faith that my little orange camera will miraculously appear someday soon. But for now...I am on the look out for a new camera. Happy birthday me. :(

So I will blog the last pictures uploaded-Camren's first birthday. And let's all pray that I start annoying you with multiple posts in a day because my camera has been found!

Is it Even Possible? 11 months in the Red Chair

So our little girl is 11 months old. And I understand that in the past this is the paragraph were I would reflect sentimentally about time lost, the pleasure of raising her and things of that nature. But not this time. This time I will breeze right past all of the tear jerking syntax into the antidote portion of our blog. Simply because I literally can not think about such things...let alone write them for you with out getting emotional. (sloppy tears, big ugly cry, snot on the face emotional) SO...moving on!

The past month has been stuffed with firsts for Camren. For one (a big one) Camren is totally and completely MOBILE! She is a walking master and has decided to give running a try most recently! Her new found mobility coupled with her fierce sense of independence are a force to be reckoned with. Sitting is NOT her best thing and explains the lack of photos shared lately. Literally. The child does. not. stop.

Camzilla (or Zilla for short) is the newest nickname for the girl as she's as destructive as she is sweet. Her newest thing is blowing kisses and giving high-5's! Camren Grace loves to play with anything that is Jaxon's and even makes the best truck sounds! I can't even explain to you how silly this girl is. She LOVES to laugh and very often starts to laugh for no apparent reason other than that it gets all of us laughing too.

Very soon Camren will start challenging her food allergies of Milk and Soy. We are waiting on a rescheduling of her GI appt before we get the specifics but the challenges will include giving her oz of milk and soy (at different times and amounts) and observing closely for a reaction. My fingers are crossed that Miss Camren will get to have real cake for her birthday! I will be sure to update you as we start to figure all of these things out!

***for the record I still did not make it through the publishing of this blog without tearing up dang it.***

Double Trouble

Jaxon and Camren have recently discovered how much fun they can have with each other. They spend the majority of their day playing with one another. Sometimes it's a game of chase up the hall way, other times it's playing on the "Aaarrr Matey" and every night after bath it's jumping on Jaxon's bed and wrestling a bit. (thank goodness Camren's tough!)

A few days ago it was playing in the truck. We put Camren in the bed of the truck--even though Jax was very worried about her lack of seat belt--and watched as they cracked each other up playing peek-a-boo around the blind spots in the truck. I pray that they continue to find delight in each other in the years to come.

Here's the video that I was able to grab of my silly monkeys.

Splash Park Fun

Last week our good friends, Adam and his mom Jenny, joined us as we checked out a great new park. It's called a splash park. This water fun is located in a public park here in town so it's completely free! (bonus for Fresno!!) We had so much fun on our first visit that we went back again the very next day!

Jax and Adam being brave boys in the middle of the fountains.

Camren got in on the wet fun for a bit to cheer Brother on as he ran under the water falls.

Jax loved these water balls. They only squirt out water if you grab the handle and spin the ball in a circle. Fun stuff.

Right next to the splash zone are 2 great play structures. Jax and Adam easily maneuvered the large one solo and Camren tried her hand at jungle gym-ing on the smaller on. All of the playgrounds are covered with awnings and have the soft mats underneath.

But Camren thought that digging for Adam's teeth was the most fun of all. He was such a good boy just letting her dig all around in there!

Jenny and I are both stay at home mom's and love that we've added a new location to our list of outing options!

10 months down, 2 to go!!

Over the past 2 1/2 years, I have had my share of, um, shall we say "challenging" photographic experiences. From jumping On the chair, to jumping Off. Rolling and spinning around. Turning backwards and refusing to smile. Oh and please don't forget melt downs galore by the King himself. But none- NONE- of those minor speed bumps compare to the antics of Camren Grace Marie during this 10 month shoot.

It started out as all Red Chair shoots go. Grab baby. Put baby in chair. Make ridiculous noises and dance around to grab attention and induce smile all while maintaining cat-like reflexes to hit the button at just the correct moment and capture The Smile. My 1 mistake...I didn't move the chair away from the window. So no matter what I did, the window held more appeal. And then, she started climbing...up the back of the chair.

And then up ONTO the window seal. She did all of this completely solo. (while her mother stood closely by in a stupor. Seriously...who climbs like a spider monkey like this?!?) Luckily, I shook off the shock and was able to grab pictures and video, because she did her climbing act multiple times. Time to rearrange the living room furniture?

So besides climbing like a bad vine, Camren is the silliest little goof. Above is her favorite smile. (which is why getting pictures of her is so dang hard!!) She loves to dance (picture wild arm flailing while bouncing on her knees) chase Jax around and screech like a true girl. Tricks include clapping and waving, making truck noises (I know...right?) and blowing kisses (this is a work in progress)

Meal time has become a true adventure. Smearing food on her face, in her ears/eyes and in her hair seems to be the main goal lately. Purees are complete history and if Cam can't feed herself-she won't eat. But she's obviously doing a great job feeding herself because 2 weeks ago she finally made it to the 70% for weight (20lbs even!!) and 90%!!!! for height at 29 3/4 inches! woo hoo!!!

While still in an fierce "momma phase", Camren seems to have no fear. She is curious and greets new situations head on. Between her "I can do it" attitude, her sparkly eyes and lack of fear--I am excited to see what this little girl has in store for the world!

Swim Lesson GED?

So, I'm not sure if there even is such a thing...but IF there is...that's what we are doing this week! Getting our Swim Lesson GED. Some of you will remember that Jax is--well--he's a swim lesson drop out. Last year we researched the surrounding schools, bought the correct (and cool) swim gear, arrived at first lesson ready to rock! And that lesson made up half of Jaxon's professional swim lesson career for the season. Life happened, swim lessons did not.

So this year we are trying a new approach. A 5 day boot (swim?) camp. Jax and his teacher (private lessons for our shy guy this year) will meet each day for the next 5 days and then we will go to regular intervals. Most of our first lesson with Mrs. C was about trust building, which is so important for Jax' cooperation. He was in the pool alone--Mommy and Daddy sat this one out!

Jax proved again to be quiet the athletic kid. He practiced kicking, using his arms to swim, monkey walking (using the wall) and getting his chin wet. Mrs. C did her best to get him to blow bubbles in the water today but was shut down hard! On the bright side, Jax seems to really like her and they worked well together. Let's all keep our appropriate appendages crossed in hopes that Jaxon comes out of these lessons a swimmer (they are too darned expensive to be a sinker!!) ;-)