I'm blessed!

I've had a lot of time to think over the past weekend about how wonderful my life is, and how truly blessed I am for MANY reasons. While Cam was in the hospital, we noticed there were a lot of families in much worse situations than we were. One person's child had been in the NICU for the first full month of his life and the parents were from St. James. They just looked exhausted. Not sure if they were working still, but somehow they had to balance their lives and paying bills back in St. James, MO and being with their sick child here in St. Louis.

There was a garden on the rooftop of the hospital that Cam and I walked to for some fresh air on Saturday. We felt cooped up after 15 or so hours, and the nurse gave us the okay. (Let me state that it was not easy to walk with a toddler stuck with an IV that was connected to a machine.) Anyway, there was another family out there enjoying the fresh air together. They had an older daughter (maybe 8), also with the IV machine. She, however was noticeably a cancer patient. My mind just went to how long she must have been at the hospital. I didn't know if this was her first, tenth or fiftieth visit. I was glad that the hospital provided a garden like this as a little "escape" for her. Most of all, I felt silly for thinking how tired of the hospital I was after only 15 hours. I felt blessed that we had some good news earlier that day and it was likely we would be leaving with a simple antibiotic prescription to take care of Camryn.

These were just two, of many, I personally witnessed.

Anyway, here are some things I spent time thinking about. While there are a lot more blessings in my life, these are some of the top things I spent some time on:

Supportive, loving, and involved family & friends - as many times as I relayed the hospital experience to family members, I was grateful to know that each of those people cared enough to call and ask.

A healthy family - I'll learn to deal with the runny noses and coughs of all three of us. Sure, they get tiresome. But I recognize they're not permanent. Even the few extra pounds that I'd like to shed (that I STILL refer to as baby weight) aren't so bad.

A healthy, extended family - No serious illnesses to report. Some bumps in the road here and there, but really, not that bad.

Friendship - it will take me too long to describe the power of good friends. It's a great thing!

A beautiful home that provides a roof over my family's head

A good job where I am given the opportunity to learn new things, apply new skills, lead new projects, and get paid for doing so.

Wonderful neighbors and a safe neighborhood to live in

Probably most of all, the fact that God listened to and answered so many prayers for Camryn this weekend, and allowed me to look at my life with a new perspective. Teaching me to remember what's good in my life, but that there's so much more beyond just me and my little world. While I do know this, it's nice to get a swift elbow in the side every now and then to remind you what's important. :-)

"Eat Mommy...Right Now"

OK. First off. Where did she learn that? I promise that Craig or I never yell at or boss Camryn to eat her food. She's a really good eater 90% of the time. She can be finicky at times, but it's no different than you or I not always being hungry right at the time everyone else eats. But we were eating out last night and all of a sudden she starts pointing her finger at me and she says "Eat mommy...RIGHT NOW!" She later did the same to Craig. My response was "don't boss me" and Craig's response was "OK, I'll eat." (Way to show her who's the real boss Craig!)

Anyway, a funny thing happened in the bathroom. (My recent blogs seem to have a theme going on. Sorry.) She said she had to pee, so I took her in. Independent Camryn wants to try to hold on herself. So she tries to brace herself with her hands on the seat. Well I had covered it in toilet paper. She slipped and her butt fell right into the water. I think it freaked her out so much she couldn't pee after that. It was actually pretty funny pulling her little tushy out of the toilet...Ha!

Today, Camryn went to her first kid birthday party. It was at a place called Pump it Up. Basically you're in huge room with 4 really big blow up bouncers. Some have slides, some have basketball hoops, some have obstacle courses. Cam did it all. Her favorite BY FAR was the slide that was at the very end of this obstacle course. I got a pretty could work out actually. We were all a little sweaty after playing so hard.



It was actually for a 5 year old son of a gal that I knew from my previous job and still catch up with frequently. So there were many 5 year olds and actually several Cam's age too. When Alex (birthday boy) was opening gifts, they all abandoned their lemondade and cake and crowded up by him to watch. It was so cute.

Poop

I know. It's a gross title. But Liz and I had this conversation that since we've become moms, we don't filter what we say as much. But because I don't mind blurting stuff out anymore, that doesn't mean people like to hear it. And so, my blog about poop will be fairly short.

The past 24 hours. No. The past 14 hours include two very different poop stories. Camryn went poop on the toilet for the first time last night. She told me she needed to pee-pee so we sat down and I never heard the sweet little tinkle, but smelled something instead. Yahoo! Camryn pooped on the toilet! We were singing her praises last night.

Now onto this morning. Since we skipped her bath last night, she got in the tub this morning. We washed and played. She continued to play while I popped into her room to get a diaper and some clothes for her. I heard "pee-pee?" coming from the other room. As I was walking back to the bathroom, I was asking her if she needed to get out and go...EW...YUCK! There she was. Sitting in bathwater with poop and what looked like shredded poop swimming around her. She looked very perplexed. I know. Too much information. I hope she didn't touch too much of it. YUCK, YUCK, YUCK. Then I hear Craig yelling from the bedroom "Do we have a floater?".

Oh, how my world has changed.

Ode to Pinky

Pinky is Camryn's dolly that we gave her for her birthday. We're hoping Pinky is the one that will finally replace the Windex bottle. (That quirk is one of those things we'll have to share with Camryn when she gets older.)

Just this morning, after Camryn was ready for school we woke Pinky up, let her go pee-pee on "the pot" (thanks MaMa Collins), then washed her hands with soap and dried them. Only pretend washing though. Then, we walked out into the hallway to go downstairs, but apparently Pinky told Camryn she needed to go "pee-pee again" so we did the whole thing over again. Then we needed to take Pinky downstairs and give her medicine; (because she was sick, you know) and laid her on the couch on the princess heart pillow with a blanket on while Camryn administered the pretend medicine from one of the many syringes we have from antibiotic prescriptions this winter. She was feeling better already. So then it was time to go to school. Pinky got up and rode in the car with us. Cam finally parted with Pinky only after she AND I gave her a hug and kiss goodbye and wished her a good day.

I don't think the Windex bottle ever got this kind of treatment. It's a good thing I don't have a job anymore where I HAVE to be there at a certain time.

Here Pinky is having a nice pretend meal of sprinkles, ground coffee and sunflower seeds. Oh, and it's out of the spare cat food dish. I tell you, their imaginations are just amazing. She understands the word pretend (Camryn, not Pinky) and has no problem with the concept. At least for now.



So I thought I'd write a little poem for Pinky since she's become part of my responsibility in the morning.

Ode to Pinky
Oh, Pinky, we're glad you're here.
Each day you give Camryn a listening ear.
But your competition, the Windex bottle, has quite a grip on Camryn's attention
That bottle has been put to bed almost too many times to mention

You sit there so quietly. You never pout.
Maybe because your maker only gave you two eyes and no mouth.
You've been to the hospital with Camryn and ridden in the car
A loyal companion you've been to her so far.

You let her hug and kiss you and put you to bed
With a wash cloth as your blanket and a princess pillow for your head
We know you're a more than suitable replacement
Please keep working your magic before you are put in a box in the basement.

The End

At last! Sunshine!

What a great weekend! The neighborhood was filled with kids playing outside and neighbors chatting. Everyone's frame of mind is just better when it's pretty outside. We had some of Craig's family over for a BBQ Sunday. We very rarely get to see Susan and Jon and Craig's Aunt Wanda. They're great people. Fun to hang out with. They always have a new story about some great trip they've been on. Susan and Jon are two of the busiest people I know, so we were lucky to have them over for the afternoon.





Susan brought over Camryn's birthday gift. She got her this total diva coat for next winter. So cute. Camryn wants to wear it every day. I need to put it away until next winter. And then she gave her these darling little bracelets. Cam actually kept them on the entire afternoon. I couldn't believe she didn't mess with them. Maybe because Susan made such a deal of how pretty they looked on her.


Well, as I write this, the sky is pouring out buckets of water outside. I think it's supposed to rain pretty heavy the rest of the day. Ick! At least it's not 30 degrees outside, right?

New discovery

I'm growing impatient with Cam's hair. I'm eager for it to grow so I can braid it and pull it back. We had only cut it for the first time last September because she was really shaggy. Unfortunately all of her curls went away then. :( I've since messed with Cam's bangs to get them out of her face, and every now and then I'll trim her sides. (Although, I don't do much because it looks terrible if I mess with scissors and hair.) We had it professionally cut again this weekend. The lady told me to quit messing with the sides and just stick it out. It will grow. She cleaned it up a bit, but when she got home, I realized she had a strikingly familiar hair style. Kind of bowl-ish.

Recognize this little guy?

I always knew that Cam looked more like Craig. It was confirmed when I pulled out his baby pictures to compare hair cuts. He is two in this picture. Whoa!

When you ask Camryn who it is, she thinks it's her. Hee, hee.

New bed

This morning she woke up and wanted to go into the play room and asked about "Cam's bed". Hmm. So maybe she likes the idea. Wonder if she'll embrace it when the bed is in there.

P.S. Memphis has made it to the Final Four. If they win, then I win the office pool.

Now that she's 2 years old...

...I've been thinking about how to transition Camryn into big girl things -- specifically big girl diapers (pull-ups) and a big girl bed (with pillow). I wonder if I'm being premature. She is only just 2. I'm in no way any rush for her to grow up, but have set in my mind that it's time to try these things out.

Tonight I was making dinner and heard her say "pee-pee". I turned around to ask her if she needed to go potty and she had her pants around her ankles, with her diaper off and standing next to a puddle of pee on the carpet. Eww! (At least it was on the carpet and not the hardwood floors.) As I was cleaning it up I laughed to myself thinking it felt like potty training a dog. (Sorry Cam...I need to find humor in these situations.) Maybe that's a sign that she's ready (or a sign that she's just weird). She tells me every now and then that she has to go; and always goes right before her bath and pretty often in the morning. We're getting there. I'm hoping school will help with this. Her favorite thing about going potty is washing her hands. Sometimes she even fakes having to go, so she can wash her hands.

This makes me think of another story that we laugh about. Last week, we were having troubles with getting her to go to bed at a normal time. We'd put her in bed and she would create such an ordeal about not being tired (even though it was WAY past her bedtime). One night I heard her say "poopy" and I went upstairs to see if she needed her diaper changed. She had unzipped her pajamas, taken off her diaper and peed all over the bed. What is up with this child?

Regarding the bed, we were sitting in her play room tonight, which will become her room someday. I was talking to her about how it would be to have that room as her own. To have a big girl bed and not the crib. Whether she understood it or not, she was shaking her head yes and talking about the difference between a big bed and her crib. Who knows. No rush right now. It can't hurt to plant the seed in her mind though, right?


One of our nightly rituals is to read her favorite books. The last few weeks, it's been a book on opposites featuring The Backyardigans ("Back-yar-gans") and Goodnight Moon. Here she is reading to her dollies ONLY after they've had diapers put on them. How sweet!

Egg Hunting

Camryn felt great on Saturday, so we braved the cold & windy day to participate in our subdivision's first annual "Eggstravaganza". This was such a nice event. Two of my neighbors organized it. There was a craft table to make bunny ears. Then they had three rounds of egg hunting. 0-3 year olds, 4-7 year olds and then 8-10 year olds. That was smart so the little ones had a chance of getting eggs. Then they could go to a grab bag and pull out a toy. The builder donated $5 giftcards to Cold Stone Creamery for each kid that participated, there was a couple that donated their time to photgraph the event and will give us access to free pictures on their site, and McDonalds donated orange drink and animal cookies.

Here are a few shots of the hunt. She did have gloves on, but she took them off right before they released the little ones to get eggs. I guess she figured that would hold her back in the competition. Ha!





It took her until about egg #5 when she realized there was candy inside of them. We had a time limit, so I was trying to get her to go pick up more eggs. "Look Cam, there's a really shiny one." Didn't work. All she was listening to was the rattle of candy in those eggs and figuring out how to get to it. I think she wound up with about 6 or 7 eggs.


At last! I can eat the candy!

March Madness!

I love March Madness. I used to be so involved in every game each year, working 2 or 3 different brackets. Camryn was born the week of the beginning of the tournament two years ago, and with Mizzou's program turning south, I've not been as engaged in college basketball ever since.

As usual, someone at work sent me a link to sign up in the office bracket competition. I'm going to try to get psyched up for the games again. I've entered every year, and Kansas has always screwed my bracket up. Why? I absolutely CANNOT pick them to win. I'm realistic. I need the points to do well in the office pool, so I'll move them through the second weekend. I just CANNOT put them in the Final Four. Have to go with my heart over my head on that one every year.

So I've got Memphis winning it all. They're the Tigers as well (and they're good), so we'll see. Go Tigers!