The BIG 3!

Top 10 Things to Know About Jaxon at 3 years old.

1. Last year I was worried that you would never talk. I now worry that you'll never stop talking! ;-) You love your words. And it amazes me how much your vocabulary has grown over the past 12 months. You love learning new words and using new phrases. (even though you don't believe that discombobulated is a word)

2. Because of your new found appreciation for the spoken language, you have also become a master negotiator. You try to negotiate your bedtime (No mom, look...it's not time yet) what you eat off of your plate (I'll eat 1 bite and then get more....). Your most frequent negotiations victim? Camren. You will talk circles around your sister until you get what you want.

3. Hanny Manny. You love this cartoon. You know all of the characters names, the phrases most used and pretty much all of the episodes. Handy Manny was your choice for your birthday party theme. You also chose to be Handy Manny for Halloween this year. He is "your best guy" (your highest compliment)

4. Mangos and Burritos. Those are the two foods that currently rank on top of your list. While you still enjoy last year's fav (strawberries) as often as we have them...mangos and burritos are often your request. If we are at MeeMaw and Mamoo's house--you always ask for a burrito! It's your favorite thing to eat at their house for certain.

5. Asthma. While it's not the most fun to talk about...it's important. You are still attached to a nebulizer machine every night. You've been to an Allergist (same one Camren sees) and he has you taking Zytrec every night. You are not aware of this. All you know is that you get a spoonful of "chocolate peanut butter" (Nutella) every night before your "breathe". We still carry an inhaler around where ever you go, but since you started your new treatments we haven't had to use it once! This summer you will go back to the allergist for some testing to see exactly what starts up your attacks.

6. If Dance Parties were big in year 2...they are Humongous in year 3! You love music. And you love to dance. Every time you hear a good song, your little foot starts tapping. Or your fingers start wiggling. And before you know it your whole body is wiggling. You literally can not help yourself. You love to dance. Top of your charts right now? I'm Sexy and I know It- LMFAO (not super proud of this...but it's the most adorable thing to watch you shake it and sing along with the cleaned up version) and of course BEP can still make you wiggle. I hope that you will always give into your heart's desire to shake it!

7. Your Buddies. This is what you call your friends. You have a pretty big group of friends for a 3 year old boy who doesn't attend a day care. Adam,Taylor and Oliver are your top dogs...along with Baby Ethan. (whom you refer to as simply "My Buddy") We do dinners, park dates, play dates, zoo dates and "gotta get this mommy outta the house" dates! They are good friends and I hope that you are able to maintain your relationships with them as we get older.

8. POTTY TRAINED! Yahoo! Some where between 2-3 you just decided it was time. And off came the diapers and on went the big boy underwear. You are just like your Dad and have the bladder of a camel. You are really great at "listening to your body" and accidents are very infrequent. Love to see your little booty shaking during a dance party in your underroos. Adorable! I do not promise that I am not in possession of any photographic evidence of this (or video for that matter) I know these will come in handy someday.

9. Camren- she is the irritation in your scream, the shriek in your laughter, the sass in your "NO". You love her (and fight her) fiercely. This year the two of you are actually playing with each other. Ok so a lot of the times your playing looks like a Battle field. But none the less, you seek her out constantly. What's Sister doing? Where's Sister going? Come on Sister... No one makes her laugh the way you do, and no one makes you laugh the way she does. Wrestling has become your favorite thing to do with Camren. I know that in the future you will be a fearsome twosome to deal with. You already use her in negotiations...I can't even imagine what's to come when she's verbal! Remember that you love her. Even when you are positive that you don't. Remember.

10. There are so many things that I know I have forgotten or have left out...I think that everything about you is important. And to pick just 10 is near impossible. You are kind and sensitive and gentle hearted. Things break your heart in a flash but after a few tears you forgive and move on. I never thought that I would be writing to encourage you to remain sensitive to your emotions (sometimes they overwhelm me)...but please Jaxon, my dear boy...stay true to your heart. It is a gift to be so open, so loving, so concerned. These are things that will take your from being a good guy to a Great Man. I love you with more than my body can hold.

Handy Manny!

One of the most exciting things about having a 3 year old is his ability to voice his opinion! So this year when asked what type of party he wanted, Jaxon was able to request a Handy Manny Party.

We decided to decorate in the spirit of the cartoon Handy Manny. Lots of construction stuff, hard hats, tool boxes for party favors, a "candy shop" and more. I, of course, didn't take pictures of any of it! But just take a look at the cupcake box. This is the same box used at our wedding, and Jaxon's previous birthdays. For Camren's party it was purple with polka dots! My husband is a spray paint genius!

Our family and closest friends were in attendance to celebrate Jax' 3rd birthday. The kids had a great time playing with bubbles, riding our various toys and the highlight was the new playhouse Jaxon (and Camren) received!

Jax had a great time opening all of his gifts and pleasantly surprised me with his gracious attitude while opening them. I really had a blast planning this party and can't wait to see what he has in store for me next year.

3 Monsters Party

Through our Fire Department Family, Camren has 2 friends who were born in October with her. Olivia Pepper (in the middle) was born 12 hours prior to Camren, so they share their birthday. And Brooke Perkins (on the right) shared Camren's due date but was born 12 days after the other 2 girls, on the 24th! So to save our friends the pleasure of attending 3-1 year old birthday parties, we banned together and threw one big shindig! What more appropriate theme for our October girls than 3 Little Monsters!

Brooke's Mom, Chandel, hand made all of the girls banners. Olivia's Mom, Veronica, hand made the shirt that the girls wore on their big day (you can see them in the top picture) and yours truly hand made (ok...my mom's hands too) Monster Dolls for the girls that matched their shirts! Who knew that we were such a crafty crew!

Justin repainted the cupcake tower to match the colors of the girls party. The cupcakes were topped with little monsters and turned out adorable, If I do say so...

The girls are fortunate to have had so many people who love them attend their party! These little girls wracked in the loot! We (the parents) had a great time trying to wrangle the girls and open their gifts before dark. We didn't quiet accomplish it and most of the gifts were opened as the sun set but we really tried!

Camren enjoyed wacky cake for her party. It is the soy and dairy free alternative to chocolate cake. As you can see...she didn't miss either of those products and loved that cake!

It was a great party with great friends. We are so lucky to have a great Dept family here and built in friends for our children. They definitely make having our families far away a little more tolerable!

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.