Cameron's first visit to Santa

We may be going a little overboard for Cameron's first real Christmas. At 2.5 she "gets" it and we have been shamelessly using Santa's impending arrival as both a threat and a bribe. Both DH and I have been buying her presents so we've ended up with a pile that is far too big. I ended up setting aside two presents already for her birthday and we haven't even received any grandparent gifts yet. Next on my list is to clean out all the current toy locations to make room for new toys.

We were supposed to go to Florida this weekend but due to a series of mishaps involving ceiling tiles our flight was cancelled. We couldn't rebook until the late evening and at that point our 2.5 day trip was down to 1.5 days. So we decided to bag it and reschedule for January. Sorry, Mimi & Papa!

That gave us a "found" weekend to get some Christmas related activities completed. Tree up? Check. Tree decorated? Check. Gingerbread house assembled and decorated? Check. Santa visit? Check! And as you can see from the pictures below, Cameron wasn't at all shy around Santa. Think she likes him?

"Give me candy"

This year was Cameron's first to go trick or treating. So we did what any other neurotic, Type A parents do: we attempted to prepare her for the experience. Up first was buying the costume. I trolled the seasonal aisles of Target about 6 weeks ago while they were fully stocked up to find the perfect costume. There was no way I was making a costume for her; my precious free time is saved for catching up on my rapidly filling DVR and shopping.

I was amazed at the number of gender specific costumes available. Most of the girls costumes, even the toddler ones involved far too little fabric in my opinion. They were also very princess oriented. Now, I am a proponent of princesses and have been known to buy a princess oriented item or two (or a dozen) for Cameron but considering it would be cold outside I immediately dismissed those. So we ended up with a very cute and very warm dog costume. Cameron approved and then it immediately went into the closet so she wouldn't bug me to wear it every day. Mommy is no dummy.

We attempted to put black grease paint on her nose and were going to draw whiskers but Cameron's constant rubbing of her nose put the kibosh on that.

For the past two weeks we have been coaching Cameron on what to say when in the process of trick o' treating.

DH or me: Cameron, after we ring the doorbell, what do you say?

Cameron: Trick or treat. Give me candy.

DH or me: The "give me candy" part is kind of implied. Why don't you say, "Happy Halloween" or "thank you" instead?

Cameron's vocabulary, despite being large, did not include the verb "imply," but we managed to keep her to the "trick or treat" during the actual door to door process.

DH also carved his first pumpkin with Cameron. Since it's been (in his words) 2 decades since he carved a pumpkin last, I think he did pretty well, don't you?

DH tried to get Cameron to use her hands to scoop out the seeds and pulp but she insisted on using her play kitchen spoon.

Happy Halloween! Cameron shows off her loot.

Easter Sunday Picture Post

As promised, here is a photo post from our Easter Sunday BBQ with friends.

I decided to go the toy route vs. candy for Cameron's Easter Basket. The Wal-Mart cheap toy section make that an easy decision. As you can see from the two pictures below, the bubble blowers were a big hit. Messy, but a hit.

DH attempts to explain to Cameron that you have to shut the fan off before you load it up with more soap. It was not a lesson that she or Holden appeared to internalize.

Cameron loved the concept of an Easter egg hunt. I ended up hiding her basket and eggs today because I just couldn't take another hunt. Twenty was my limit!

Tooling around in Holden's car. Chicks dig the cop cars.

Holden offers to take the empty to the recycling bin.

A wonderful drama free weekend

DH and I were afraid that speaking it out loud would jinx it. But Sunday afternoon while Cameron was napping he turned to me and said, "Hey, we haven't had to put Cameron in timeout once this weekend!" I quickly knocked on wood, rubbed a rabbit's foot and threw salt over my shoulder. The man who obsesses about baseball should know that you never, never talk about a perfect game. But despite his misstep Cameron triumphed and we avoided all tantrums and timeouts.

There are a few reasons I attribute to our tantrum and timeout free weekend. The first is that Cameron was finally over the ear/sinus infection that had probably plagued her for weeks. The kid doesn't complain so identification of an illness is usually pure luck. She was also well rested. Daycare was closed on Friday (which means our drama free weekend was for 3! whole! days!) so we let her sleep in a little and she had a great nap. Cameron has also had another language explosion. It is rare that we don't understand what she is saying and her sentences are approaching 5-6 words. She can also clearly understand what we are saying and we've made more of an effort to explain things to her, instead of just telling her to do something.

On Sunday the Taylor family hosted us for a BBQ. Good food, sangria and deep frying experiments were all on the menu. Amanda had an Easter egg hunt set up around the yard (hunt is a bit of a misnomer since the eggs were in plain sight). DH and I had been "practicing" with Cameron all weekend when she brough 4 eggs home from daycare so Cameron totally kicked ass. She even ended up transferring Holden's eggs into her basket but he didn't seem to mind.

A picture post to come tonight!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The terrible twos have hit our household hard over the past week. I'm not sure if it's the cold she's had for a week or the desire but inability to potty train or what. But it's making DH and me miserable. So the cure for our blues? Cute pictures of the little monster, of course! A very happy Valentine's Day from Cameron.

Cameron isn't very good at painting. She usually ends up with a big brown blob in the middle of the page as illustrated below. Perhaps she will be a music prodigy instead.

DH loves teaching Cameron things like how to put her hands in her pocket. Unfortunately he did not accompany this lesson by singing the Alanis Morrisette hit.

I rarely dress Cameron up for school. Considering that she just ruined a pair of tights (red Carolina clay does not come out of clothes, ever) I should know better. But I couldn't resist dressing her up for Valentine's Day.

How else am I supposed to get use out of the adorable clothes we buy for special occasions? This one was also a Christmas dress.

Show me the mommy!

Really this should be show me the auntie (pronounced auhn-tee!) because I spent some time showing Ned how to use my iPhone. I figured since he is incapacitated there was no time like the present to start playing with Apple products.

Christmas Trip: Part 2

On Christmas morning we left Springfield for our pilgrimage to Andover to see my side of the family. I had hoped to be on the road by 7 AM (yeah, right) but we left at 8:15. Because of that we missed the opening of stocking presents (just for the little kids) and somehow I forgot my camera. So all of the pictures below are courtesy of my dad's kick ass SLR camera.

A couple of items of note. Cameron entered her pickiest eating phase EVER on this trip. I think she subsisted entirely on crackers and milk. Every time my mom put a new food in front of Cameron I would warn her, "Cameron won't eat that." But she would push it and Cameron would have the biggest melt downs. Sigh. I'm very glad we are back home so at least we have our fall back foods and a modicum of nutrition.

We also missed a white Christmas in Charlotte. Who would have thought that Charlotte would have a white Christmas? Fortunately the Boston area got 18 inches of snow on the 26th. I took Cameron out on the deck because she really wanted to go outside. As soon as we were out she insisted I carry her (of course) and she kept saying, "it's hot, it's hot." What she meant was that it was cold. So DH and I had fun teaching her the difference between hot and cold. Now everything is cold but we're getting there!

Cameron came over to her grandparent's house in her pjs. She got to open her stocking presents while all the cousins played around her. So that really meant DH and I opened her presents and she played with the toys strewn about the room.

Cameron got these cool sunglasses and actually wore them for a minute before abandoning them for another toy.

Here Cameron opens really cool spill proof (yeah, we'll see about that!) paint from Melissa and Doug that her Grammy and Bumpa gave her. We ended up shipping all of the presents back to Charlotte and they should arrive today which means Christmas all over again!

Here is a shot of the entire family opening presents. What do you don't see is the mound of presents under the tree. Grammy and Bumpa were very generous with their grandkids.

I was hoping that the group mentality would kick in for mealtimes. Unfortunately Cameron insisted on eating practically nothing. But she did eat her Happy Meal when we got McD's during the blizzard.

We had a family photo session on Sunday. Need I say that it was chaotic? There were many meltdowns, nose picking and I don't think the photographer got a single shot of the entire family smiling at the camera. Fortunately he said he can do some face switching so we should get at least one good picture out of the bunch. The best part was my sister Kristin attempting to put Ned into time out during the session and bribing her kids with Altoids to behave. Classic.

All in all, a good trip up to see family and friends. But I think we will be sticking to our plan of an every other year trip during the holidays. It was fun but exhausting!

Christmas Trip: Part 1

I know I have been remiss in posting. I deliberately did not bring my personal computer with us on our Christmaspalooza because I was hoping to enjoy a little down time with my Kindle. Despite a cold, about 50 family members and juggling a toddler, down time was in fact achieved. Amazing, no?

We arrived at DH's parents' house in Springfield, MA on Wednesday, December 22nd. The flight with Cameron was fine except I used my entire bag of tricks which included $10 worth of iPhone apps for her. The problem with the toddler apps I've come across is that they are repetitive (numbers, letters, animals, etc.). So if anyone can point me to better apps for the 2+ age range, I would appreciate it. Funny aside...on Christmas Eve we had 6 people in the same room on different devices (iTouch, iPad, iPhone) all playing Angry Bird. I thought my mother-in-law was going to keel over by none of us interacting in the same room. The wave of the future? Perhaps. We did play Trivial Pursuit all together later that night so all was not lost.

Cameron got some cool clothes, books and of course toys on Christmas Eve. Her favorite was the Santa present from us: an Elmo doll. Just the basic plush, cuddly one. She has it in her crib as I type this. Below are photos from our visit with my in-laws. Tomorrow I'll post pictures from the rest of the trip to my family's house.

Cameron hangs out with her daddy the morning after we arrive.

Memere lets Cameron adorn herself with ornaments.

If she isn't careful, Cameron's face will freeze that way!

Cameron hangs out with her cousins. She was a little overwhelmed at first but quickly grew to love them. She was particularly enamored of Ryan (or Ry-Ry as she called him).

They walked around the house holding hands...too cute!

The cousins pose for their picture on the stairs.

Memere Gabby with two of her great-granddaughters.

Cameron poses for a picture with Ryan. Isn't her dress adorable? Unfortunately it was also long and a 2T so she took a couple of headers into door frames until we finally put her in pjs.

Remember when sick days were fun?

I used to love sick days when I was a kid. As a triplet, it would oftentimes be the only 1:1 time I had with my mom. Plus, when we were in high school my mom would give us the occasional mental heath day. As mostly straight A students with multiple extra curricular activities it was needed and appreciated. Aside from mono in college I also never really felt like I was hit by a truck when I got sick.

Now that I'm an adult with a child sick days aren't nearly as much fun. No more mental health days because I have to hoard my sick days in case Cameron gets sick or if she gets me sick. After a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends I took Cameron to the Discovery Place KIDS in Huntersville. Two hours after we arrived back home I started feeling sick. I was miserable all day Sunday and knew that it would only get worse. First I was annoyed because I got the damn flu shot so why was I sick? I knew it wasn't a cold. Around 5 PM I let my work team know that I would be out all day.

I went to bed at 8 PM and got up at 10 AM after very restless sleep (DH ended up sleeping in the guest room) and headed to the Minute Clinic. I love that place. There was no wait and after I listed my symptoms the doctor took a peak at my throat. "Yep, looks like strep throat," he told me. A 5 minute test confirmed the diagnosis and I was on my way to pick up antibiotics and go back to bed.

My biggest concern these days is that Cameron not get sick. Especially because DH is traveling right now and both of us sick at home with no back up is not my idea of a good time. Fortunately she seems to have avoided it so far although I'm wondering where I picked it up then.

The things that suck about being sick as an adult include having to worry about catching up on work. I'm fortunate that my team can cover for me but I still had to do about 2 hours worth of work. Which I did in a complete fog. So I hope there are no major mistakes! I have also found that the older I get the more sick I get. A cold that lasts Cameron a day or two knocks me out for a week.

The only silver lining? Well our dog, Charlie, would tell you that it's the fact he gets to sleep all day in bed with me. Lucky dog.

I hope this post made sense as my fog continues to grow. What do you dislike the most about being sick? Does your job have enough flexibility to allow for multiple sick days? I plan on being out tomorrow too with a meeting here or there.

Happy Mother's Day

Cameron's funny faces are one of the many reasons I love being a mother! 13 months old and she's already a ham and a difficult photography subject.

Cameron's first Christmas in pictorial

Cameron demonstrates her new face that she puts on when we try to give her jarred food. While Mommy and Daddy made a grown up dinner (including using our wedding china for the first time!) Cameron had turkey and cheddar cheese. Yum!

Cameron isn't exactly enamored of her Christmas dress although she does love the doll that Grammy gave her.
Cameron gets kisses from Callie who is visiting us for 10 days. Callie and Charlie love to play with each other. I am not happy with the amount of mud now ground into my carpet. That's what steam cleaners are for!

Cameron models her Christmas Eve outfit from Grammy. Per my family's tradition we let her open one present on Christmas Eve. She much preferred eating the wrapping paper!

Mémére and Papa come to visit

We aren't heading up North for the holiday's so DH's parents made a trip down to see us. We had an absolute blast putting up Christmas decorations and spending lots of quality time. DH and his father put up crown moulding in the master bedroom (a whole Adventures in Home Improvement post to come) while his mother and I made Christmas cookies. Mémére and Papa even babysat for us on Monday night so DH and I could have date night. I put aside my Type A personality enough to leave before bedtime - first time I've done that!

Cameron isn't quite sure what to think about the Christmas tree. She hasn't become enamored of it yet which is a good thing!

Cameron gets to play with her Papa.
Cameron enjoys lots of kisses from her Mémére.

The battle over Christmas decorations

For the past 4 years DH has grumbled about one particular Christmas decoration. He complains when I talk excitedly about putting it up and turning the light on every day. When DH goes around the house to turn the window candles on he somehow always manages to miss this decoration. I almost gleefully come behind him and make sure it is turned on.

You'd think given DH's mile wide practical streak that the Christmas decoration in question is some kind of hideous, singing exuberance that represents all things wrong with Christmas. But no, instead it is a hand made ceramic Christmas tree. My great-grandmother made 4 of them and I have been blessed with getting one of them for my house.

So, what do you think? Ugly or awesome?

Making a list, checking it...crap, where did I put that list?

Is everyone else as shocked as I am that it's December already? Where the heck did November go? I guess I bagged it up with the dead leaves. But don't you worry, there are plenty more dead leaves still left to be raked into piles and stuffed into bags. Because nothing says December down South like raking leaves.

A couple of months ago DH and I decided we weren't going home for the holidays. I'll pause for your gasps of shock and disdain. Yes, we decided to deprive our child of her first Christmas with her extended family after a 1400 mile trip up North. And it has been the most relaxing and refreshing decision we've made in a very long time. In the past we've scrambled to get everything done a week before Christmas, pile in the car and make the LONG drive up to Massachusetts. Plus we end up taking two weeks off of work and not feeling like we had any kind of vacation. So this year we decided to bag it all and have our very own first family Christmas.

I'm especially excited because this will be the first time we've put up our very own Christmas tree! Yes, we are that pathetic couple that has glommed on to our families' decorated houses since 2002 as a way to fill the void of Christmas decorations. Sure I put up a few things here and there but a stocking and string of lights isn't very impressive. So for the first time in our 7 year relationship DH and I will get to decorate our very own Christmas tree.

Because we haven't done much in the way of local holiday cheer there are lots of things I need to buy. If only I had planned 11 months in advance I could have purchased all my holiday decorations at 60% off. With that in mind I am going to try and limit what I buy and try to stock up after the new year. But at a minimum we need:

• A tree
• Tree skirt & stand
• Colored lights
• Ornaments (to augment a small stash I already had)
• Garlands
• Stockings

Now if only I could get this motivate for family Christmas presents. Normally by now I have at least an idea of what to get people. But between work and Cameron I've got nada. Thank goodness for the Internet...

Cameron's first Thanksgiving

For the past few years DH and I have eschewed Thanksgiving. We live far enough away that it didn't make sense for us to travel home for the holiday. Especially with Christmas just around the corner. So I was thrilled when Amanda invited us over for her Orphan Thanksgiving. 10 friends came together to eat lots of food, drink more than was necessary and have a wonderful time.

I am thankful for wonderful family and friends to spend the holidays with. We are laying low this weekend and avoiding the holiday crowds. But I can't wait to start decorating for Christmas!

Cameron and Holden play together after dinner.

Bread in the shape of a turkey. Awesome!
Yummy food.

The dinner table is set for 10.

Cameron chases Charlie around.

Cameron decides Charlie's toy is hers.

Proof of Cameron's new ability: crawling. Sorta.