Pettey Family

Halloween 2011

2011-10-29T03:27:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are pictures of the Halloween costumes I made for the kids this year. The base did a fun night that included a hayride, finding pumpkins, trick or treating, pizza and juice, and games. The kids had a blast! And since I was so pleased with how their costumes came out, I thought I'd break it down just because I want to.

Jedi Mind Trick

Getting a good picture of Cameron's costume proved to be really difficult. That kid would not stand still for anything once he had his super awesome Luke Skywalker costume on.
You better watch out!
1. So, starting with the jedi robe. I had an old brown curtain that I had actually previously cut up and make my cushion cover templates out of when we were reupholstering our couch. I didn't have enough left over to make his robe, so I just took the cushion covers apart since I wasn't using them anymore, and was able to get enough fabric out of it. In fact, I was able to make his boot covers out of it too. My inspiration for the boot covers came from Cheri of I am Momma Hear Me Roar.
She didn't really have a full tutorial for them but I just played around with it, and figured it out. They turned out looking really good. They completely covered his shoes, but didn't look too big, like a lot of the store bought covers do. And they stayed in place with some elastic wrapped around the bottom of his shoes.
2. The pants. I had previously picked up a somewhat stretchy khaki colored skirt at our Airmen's Attic when we were still in MT. I was planning on eventually making it a little smaller to fit me, but it turned out perfect for his costume.
3. The belt I made from some tan fabric and some ultra firm fusible interfacing. It closed with a strip of velcro. Then I embellished it with some other fabric colors. He was able to hang his light saber right on his belt.
4. And last was the tunic. Two long rectangles of fabric cut and hemmed. It's hard to see in the pictures, but hemmed it so it looked tunic-like. If that makes much sense. They just wrapped around him like an X, and stayed in place under the belt. We seriously had to fix them like 20 times though. Next time, I'll either stitch them together so we can just slip it over his head, or pin it in place. That drove me crazy!
And that's Cameron's costume. He loves it!
Hello little Ewok!

If I had one good picture of Ethan's costume AND him smiling, I would have used that one. Oh well. So, since being in Belgium, I've had a heck of a time finding fabric. So I went to the Pxtra on the Army base we usually go to (about 35 minutes away), and I bought a brown plush blanket for the body suit. I actually used the wrong side of it because it looked a little more shaggy. Then using another idea from Cheri, but in a different way, I took one of the shaggy toilet seat covers and used it for the belly. The ears were out of the blanket, and the hood was out of the same tan fabric as Cameron's belt. Then I embellished the hood with some embroidery floss. The hardest part of Ethan's costume was getting the hood to lay right. I actually had to make it twice, because the first one didn't fit over his head...oops! Oh, and the body suit came from a baby/toddler Halloween pattern a got from Joann's when Cameron was a baby. I didn't follow it exactly because I didn't need a mouse or panda. But just used the general directions for the suit.
Okay, if you've gotten this far...just some fun pictures.

Cameron's friend Seth from school, one of the other American kids.

There were quite a few Star Wars costumes there, so we got them all together for a picture. Laya was one of the people helping out that night. She's stationed here.

P.S. My skeleton shirt idea came from Ashley of Make It and Love It. I googled templates, but couldn't find anything I liked, so I decided take her pictures and trace it right from my computer screen to my freezer paper and then used the freezer paper technique and some acrylic paint and textile medium to paint it onto my shirt. The shirt I got from the thrift store at the Army base. It was the only maternity shirt I could find in black and long sleeved, so even though it was kinda funky shaped at the top, it turned out well!

Oh baby!

2011-10-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

More Halloween pictures to come of the kids. I made all of our costumes, including my skeleton shirt.

So, baby #3 is on the way! Due March 13th. Today I had my twenty week ultrasound (20 weeks and 2 days). And the verdict is...BOY #3. After having a miscarriage in January, I now understand the heartache it brings. And maybe you understand why I don't announce earlier like most people. But, baby is healthy, and we are excited and happy!

We're tired...

2011-09-19T14:20:00.001-07:00

Mostly because of this type of thing day after day...

We may also be tired because Ethan thinks 20 minute naps everyday are good enough, and because Cameron doesn't get naps anymore. It's a rough life for him right now.
And we're all tired from the bug we've been passing around this past week. Luckily I didn't get it (knock on wood).

The end.

The European American Candy

2011-09-12T23:37:00.000-07:00

When we moved here, I was astonished to find an Aldi grocery store right in our neighborhood. Then I found out that it apparently is a German company. What a small world. Anyway, we decided to go in yesterday and walk round.

And here's a side note: every grocery store closes by 6:30pm at the very latest. It drives me crazy! And when you go in the grocery store, the entire store is refrigerated. Here they don't really have refrigerated sections, unless it's a frozen item. They have refrigerated stuff all over the store, so it's freezing in the store!

Okay, so where was I? We went in, and started walking around. And we found a dozen eggs for 26.09 euros! Huh? That's about $38.50. I don't get that one. But we continued to walk around, and found a cute pair of shoes for Ethan for 3.99 euros, some Feta (Clint LOVES feta), some batteries, a snack box for Cameron...um whatever. But then we found CANDY! And we must have had a hankering for some American candy and it didn't help that our entire family hadn't had dinner yet, because we sure found some. Well not really, but we were amazed that Europe has their own brands of candy just like American candy. (And some stores do carry real American Candy like Hershey's but this one didn't) Let me show you what I'm talking about.

Starbursts (these weren't quite like Starbursts, but they were still so good)

Snickers (Clint's favorite candy bar is Snickers and he said these were better, but I thought they tasted exactly the same)

KitKat (a tiny bit different, but still very good)

Peanut M&M's (exactly the same!)-they had regular too

Just some chocolate wafers we wanted to try, and they were sooo good!

See? American candy!

Then we hurried ourselves out of the candy isle before we grabbed more stuff.

(Oh, and blogger is really starting to make me mad with their formatting issues, which is a HUGE reason I don't blog a lot. Can someone please tell me how to make this easier?)

Olives.

2011-09-12T04:18:00.001-07:00

First Day of School!

2011-08-31T23:44:00.001-07:00

So I sent Cameron off to school for the first time today. He has been waiting and waiting for this day for about a year now. So we went outside to the end of our driveway and waited for the bus! Cameron was beyond excited, but I think he might have a been a little skeptical also thinking it might just be like any other day where he stays home with Mom and Ethan.
But to start this day off right, I made some of my mom's cinnamon rolls. For some reason my dough had a super hard time rising/raising? but in the end they turned out great. I think Cameron was a little too excited to get his new school clothes on that he only ate about half of his.

He chose Spiderman over Lightning McQueen. This made Dad happy and Mom wished he would have chosen Lightning McQueen (it was cuter).

Ethan was there to show everyone how cute he is with his little crusty icing face.

The school is all about safety. They even have a separate playground for the preschoolers to use. Well, the schoolbus came by our house and just kept going. They were picking all the kids up on the other side of the road first and then they swing back around and pick the kids up on our side of the road. This devastated Cameron. He thought the school bus wasn't coming back!

But after some explaining, he was good to go again. And of course I made him give me a hug and kiss before the bus came, just in case I didn't get one.

Just playing here, "No mom, don't let 'em take me!"

Here comes the bus.

The door opened and he got right on, sat down, and buckled himself in. They have buckles! I was right, no goodbye.

But I did finally get a wave!

Have a good year Cameron!

Um...yeeeeaaahh...

2011-08-24T05:25:00.000-07:00

That's the best title I could think of for this post. It been...a while. And I'm not picking up where I left off. That would be ideal, but I'm lame like that. Maybe one day I'll post pictures of the last, oh 8ish months. Maybe not. But I thought I SHOULD post, and what better thing to post than something totally random.

And the best part is, that you can't really tell how big Ethan has gotten since the last pictures I posted of him. But, he actually is still pretty small. Let me think...at his last few doctor visits, he's been in the 5th percentile for weight, something like 20th for height and 50th for head circumference. So apparently I'm not feeding him. But you'll see in the pictures to come he loves to eat...peanut butter that is.
We were eating lunch, and the awesome mother that I am has been out of bread for oh about a week now. Yes, bad mother. Got it. So we ate peanut butter and jelly on saltine crackers for lunch instead. (I used to do this as a kid all the time, except I had a huge sweet tooth and used honey. I thought jelly was more appropriate). Well, since I was just making them as they ran out, I kept the PB out and when Cameron was done eating he decided to go into the play room. Our high chair (which was given to us) doesn't have a buckle, and when I came back in the room to get Ethan out because he wasn't quite done eating, this is what I found. And unfortunately I decided to leave my SD card in my computer. So when I grabbed my camera really quick, I couldn't get the picture that I wanted. It was the oops-you-caught-me face. Anyway, some pictures of Ethan in the peanut butter. He LOVES LOVES LOVES peanut butter. I can't stress that enough. He asks everyday for butter (and it sounds like butter but remove the tt.) Anyway, he's a cute kid, and is getting into absolutely EVERYTHING now. Hurray, I just love the terrible twos. It makes me feel like I'm in my terrible twos with the way I react to Cameron and Ethan sometimes.

And Cameron. He's four, as of August 15th. He starts dutch preschool on September 1st. I think normally I would be just fine. But this is my crazy Cameron we're talking about going to a school where they speak Dutch, and he doesn't, all day Monday through Friday (with Wednesdays being a half day). Yes I am a bit nervous about this. He will also be riding the school bus. But they've told me that kids that young learn so fast that he'll be speaking Dutch in a few months. Next year when he starts kindergarden, he will go to the American school. Oh did I mention we moved to Belgium? I guess I will have to do some major updates huh? Anyway for now, here he is in all his glory on his birthday, the day we moved into our new house, the day the ruined pineapple upsidedown cake for the first time in my life, and with his baseball cupcakes that I just had to make because I felt horrible for not giving him a proper birthday.
And of course one last picture of what we deal with everyday of the week here. Only kidding, mostly it's just rain, but they call for hail a lot, and then sometimes we get it.

The Good Mom Vs. The Bad Mom

2010-12-04T06:14:00.000-08:00

Since I've been raising kids for a whole three years now, I consider myself to be an expert on raising kids the WRONG way. I'll give you an example. Cameron has always been a terrible sleeper. At least I was blessed with one good sleeper...Ethan. Cameron gets up every single night and tries to sneak in bed with me. I got smart and started locking his door. This way I can hear him whining at the door, instead of waking up in the morning with him in my bed. In the last two or so weeks, Ethan's been quite a handful at night too (hopefully just a phase), taking about 45 minutes to get to sleep, and then waking up in the middle of the night too. Being a sleep deprived mother in my current state (well, let's face it, we are ALL sleep deprived ALL the time), I gave Cameron an ultimatum. Actually it was just a montrous load of consequences. So this is pretty much how the night panned out.

1. Put Cameron in bed, and talked to him about staying in bed.

2. Give him the consequences if he gets out of bed: take away his truck that Grandpa made, no playground tomorrow, no Home Depot kids' project tomorrow, and finally a spank.

3. He's up, take away his truck.

4. It's the middle of the night: put him back to bed, and tell him no playground or Home Depot.

5. It's morning and he didn't get up again, so I didn't have to follow through with the last consequence.

Okay, so what's wrong with this situation other than I gave him way too many consequences (remember, sleep deprived)? Maybe it's the fact that I just made the day horrible for me by not having any fun places for Cameron to spend his energy, maybe it's because he didn't seem bummed about losing any of these things, maybe it's because I LOVE going to the Home Depot with Cameron every month to "bond", or maybe it's all of them.

So, here's a tip from a mom who has two active boys, and a measley three years of experience (only 1 1/2 dealing with toddlers).

1. Give a consequence that is gonna make them sad (possibly something tangible...spankings don't really work on Cameron, and I use them as a last resort a lot of the time).

2. Follow through. Even though I told him that we aren't going to the Home Depot as his consequence for not staying in his bed, it's still tempting to forget about it because you just love them so darn much (remember Puss in Boots from Shrek with his big eyes that you just can't resist?)

3. Give them a consequence that you don't care about. So, one that will make him/her sad, but won't bother you in the slightest. I love going to the Home Depot, and it's a chance to spend quality time with Cameron, and I gave it up. Not a good idea.

4. REWARD and PRAISE them when they've done a good job, and haven't required the use of your consequences. I forget about this A LOT! Many times I will tell Cameron if he does a certain thing that he won't be able to play with the toy he currently has in his hands, or that I'll send him to the corner. But when he listens to me, and doesn't do that act or bad behavior, I often forget to reward him or praise him for it. So, do it!

Okay, that's all my insight. What do you have?

Quiet Toys-Crayon Roll

2010-09-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

So, I've been in a really crafty mood lately. (Actually I'm in a crafty mood all the time). But I've been looking at A LOT of quiet toys/activities/books for church for my children as well as my brother's children. I'm working on some laminated picture books of The Savior, Temples, Missionaries, Families, etc. I'm also working on activity folders, as well as some soft books. I finished a crayon roll for Cameron, Gabi, and Alex.

I looked for tutorials and such online, but couldn't find one for what I wanted specifically. So, intead of making it at least somewhat easier on myself, I decided to just figure out the entire thing on my own. And since I did, I made three of them, so I was able to figure out a better way to do certain things here and there.

So, here's the question...would you like a tutorial for this? If so, I'd be happy to post one!

Here's a picture of all of them open. I did one for regular sized crayons, and two for the tall twisty ones.

I had a blast making these, and I learned why I made them the way I did. I decided to only make pockets for eight crayons, because if you add too many more, it's just going to get bulky and that's not really what you want in your purse or church bag. I also used a button and stretchy cord for the closure instead of long ribbons. I figured they would get in the way. On the other hand, eventually the loop will lose its elasticity like a hair tie. Overall, I really like these and I like the way I did them.

Cute onsie!

2010-08-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

My friend Vickie just had a baby girl. I love crafting, so I decided to make her an outfit. I found two tutorials on Crap I've Made, one for Freezer paper stenciling, and one for a Ruffle Butt on a onsie.

My friend is really into skulls and crossbones, so I decided her baby would totally look cute in one too! I used the freezer paper stenciling tutorial for the skull and crossbones, and appliqued a little bow on it. Then I used the Ruffle Butt tutorial and put the ruffle on. I did change it a little. When I made it the FIRST time, I did it the way she did, but I thought it was a little bunchy on the inside. So the second time (on her onsie) I just serged all sides of the ruffle and let both sides show on the onsie. Still super cute. I also made a cute little bow for her. I can't wait to see pictures of her baby in it, but I just couldn't wait to post this anymore. She finally got the package, so now it's okay to post it.

Happy Anniversary?

2010-08-19T04:43:00.000-07:00

Five years ago today Clint and I were married in the Washington D.C. LDS temple. It's been a hard but good time. We have two beautiful children, two crazy children, a complex about what to do with our crazy children, stretch marks to prove we have two crazy children, and the love we share that only gets better through our trials and experiences (cue sappy love song).

Anyway, there's only one problem with this day...where's my husband? Oh yeah, he's in Africa slaving away for the military. Actually, he enjoys his time there minus the no family part.

So the question here is what to do for my anniversary? Should I go get a manicure, pedicure, massage? Should I go buy some bead stuff? Should I go to the mall for a shopping spree? Because spending Clint's hard earned money is what I do best, right?

To bad I had to spend $92 to replace the battery in our car yesterday, and spent $230 to have our window replaced in the car two days ago. Oh well, maybe next year when I have a husband to get gift for me. Now I will subject you to some pictures of our marriage that I took off of Facebook. (I realized after I posted Cameron's birthday that I could have done that).

The birthday boy!

2010-08-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'd like to post pictures of Cameron from the past three years, but all our pictures are either on CD's in storage in Montana, or on a portable hard drive in Africa with Clint. So, birthday pictures will just have to do.

A birthday cake fit for a three year old. Unfortunately, when I finally got around to taking pictures of it, the frosting and candy all had started melting. Curse this hot weather!

Cameron trying to hold up three fingers. Ethan is better at holding up fingers than Cameron. He did eventually get three fingers up.

My mom always had a tradition that the birthday kid gets the first cut of his cake, and we've carried on that tradition in our own family.

Cameron with his stash.

For some reason this kid has a new found obsession with putting his fingers and hands in his mouth. I thought that was just a baby thing, but I've been proven wrong. He's never even sucked his thumb before!

Good News

2010-07-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

I am NOT the worst blogger in the world.

In other...well, news (not good or bad), Clint has been in Africa for about 2 1/2 weeks now. We took him down to Virginia to the Naval Station in Norfolk where he flew from. I am now living with my parents while he is gone. It's been a big help already. My parents are wonderful, and I'm so grateful to have them. I miss Clint a lot already. Cameron misses him too. He asks for Dad all the time. Unfortunately, Ethan won't remember him when he gets back. So his deployment will be about 6 months. While he is over there, even though he is Air Force, he will be doing Army and Navy budget stuff. Here are some pictures before he left.

At Virginia Beach before he left.

Jumping the waves with Cameron.

With the boys at the Air Terminal.

And finally, a picture of our little family. It was hard to let him go. But we know, he'll come back to us soon.

So, if you are interested in a crazy story about Clint leaving, then read on.

The plan was that Clint's plane was to leave for Africa on Tuesday, June 22nd. So we decided to drive down to Virginia on Sunday. Get settled into the hotel on base and have all Monday to spend together, go to the beach, etc.

Problem 1: Clint lost his Permetherine (a bug repellant treatment for his uniforms). He had to have his Lieutenent in Montana overnight some more on Friday so he could treat his uniforms on Saturday, and we could leave on Sunday.

Problem 2: The package didn't come on Saturday. We couldn't leave until Monday late morning. But all is well, it's only a 5-6 hour drive. Still gives us time to go to the beach, right?

Problem 3: We got stuck in a three hour traffic jam. Need I say more? It took us 9 whole hours to get down to Norfolk. At 7:30pm, we finally got settled in to the hotel, a little late for the beach. No biggie, Clint doesn't have to be at the Air Terminal until 7pm. We got some things done on Tuesday morning and then off to the beach we went. And we had a fantastic time, except the part where a wave hit Cameron's head to my cheek bone and gave me a black eye.

Problem 4: Sand! Ahhh! @$#%! We already checked out of the hotel. Not by choice, we had to. It was on base and we didn't have a choice. We had to shower off and get Clint to the Airport clean and dry or he would be rubbed raw by the time he got to Africa. And by the time we got back to Pennsylvania we would be too. Okay, so all beaches have showers to rinse off the sand. Good. They are all broken you say? @$%! Thanks to my rockin awesome husband, we went back to the base and took showers at the gym. The lady at the front desk didn't understand why we weren't going to work out though.

Okay, so we made it to the Air Terminal. Any more problems? You wouldn't think so. Even a four hour delay wasn't all that bad. But could we really leave it at that? Of course not.

Problem 5: While we were waiting for Clint's plane to leave, I decided I was too tired to drive back to PA that night, so I booked a hotel stay online at the Comfort Inn about 20 miles away. I started driving, 20 miles on a freeway at 1am took an hour because of traffic. Traffic at 1am? @$@%! I know I know. Relax right? Well, I got to the hotel at 2am. Planned on getting up at 8am, eating the continental breakfast and then making the trip back to PA. (There are about a million problems in this next part). Well, I got a call at 6am from some weird number. It was Clint. His plane got turned around halfway over the Atlantic Ocean. Some light came on and they had to actually turn around and fix it. He said, come pick me up at the Air Terminal. I get up and get dressed, grab a quick bite to eat for Cameron and myself and head out the door. I get to my car and find glass all over the ground. Someone had broken the back passenger door window. Everything seemed to be going wrong. I was in tears. But, it actually gets a little better. Since I was only going to be in the hotel for about 6 hours (now only 4), I only took the kids and the diaper bag in with me. I left everything else in the car, including my computer, my $500 camera, my suitcase, all our DVD's, etc. EVERYTHING! Stupid, I know. Really stupid. I've learned my lesson. But, nothing was stolen. Not one single thing in the car was touched. NOTHING! What? How is that possible? Well, I had the hotel manager call the police. He came out and filed a police report. He told me, that about 8 other cars had been broken into that night on the same street. Now, I was not in a bad area or at a cheap motel, but all kinds of people are everywhere. I like our car, but it's 13 years old. Probably the oldest car in the parking lot. A good car to break into, probably one without an alarm. WRONG. We had an alarm on our car, and probably what saved all of our stuff. So incredibly blessed!

Problem 6: I know! There are even more problems. But it really does get better. So, if your sick of reading all of the awful stuff, just remember that there is good stuff in there too. The freeways in Virginia are crazy! If you get off an exit, you'd better know the area and how to get back on, because there are no on ramps in the same place. Well, I decided to head back the same way I came from. I wasn't sure what exit I was supposed to take, and I knew how the exits were, so I was pretty worried.

Side note: My mom loves getting lost. I hate it. It gives me so much anxiety, it's really hard to handle. So, I took the exit I thought was right. Just as I was on the exit, Clint called me on someone's phone and told me it was the wrong exit. Ahh! So, I went down the road a little bit and tried to turn around and see if I could get back on the freeway. No such luck. I turned around, but what I found was that I was headed towards a completely different freeway. I had no choice, but to get on the freeway and just choose which direction to go, East or West. I had no idea. I was completely turned around. So, I just picked a direction. Then outloud in my broken window car, I said "Heavenly Father! We've been promised that we won't be given trials that we can't handle. And I am telling you now, I cannot handle this anymore." I'm crazy, it's true. But, I decided to take the very next exit. While I was on the exit, some Navy guy had taken the curve too fast and spun his car around and crashed it. I thought, "Okay, at least I'm better off than that guy." I got off the exit, and I balled, literally. I was on the road right outside of the gate I needed to get on base and go to the air terminal. Now, you can't honestly say Heavenly Father doesn't answer our prayers.

So, I got to the gate, and I was actually shaking and my eyes were red from crying. To get onto this base, you have to have a pass for your car, not just a military ID. I had one from the day before, but it was only good for the day. The base cop said "What's the problem?" "Well, I just need to go pick up my husband from the air terminal and my pass is expired." (Voice quivering) "Why are you so nervous?" (Like I was up to something). I about flipped out. I got myself under control. "I am NOT nervous. I an UPSET, because someone just broke my window and my husband's plane just broke and got turned around." He looked at me like I was crazy. He said. "Okay, calm down. Go ahead." So, I went and picked Clint up, and I actually got to spend an extra day with him. We went out to lunch on the Navy's money, and then went out to a nice dinner. Clint put tarp over my window so I could make it back home. After we dropped Clint off for the second time, I decided I couldn't stay another night in Virginia, and I was going to drive home. But I needed to take a nap first. But where? I didn't even want to drive at all before I slept, I was THAT tired. And for good reason, considering everything that had happened. So I took a nap for about 1 1/2 hours in the parking lot of the Air Terminal. I just laid Ethan and Cameron down with me. When I woke up, I saw policemen towing a car behind me. They do that when you don't have a pass for your vehicle or it's EXPIRED. So I high-tailed it out of there and started driving. Halfway through I was getting really sleepy, so I stopped and bought a five hour energy. When I got home, I just pumped my milk and threw it away. But, I made it safely home, finally!

That, morning I got another call from Clint. He asked me if I was still in Virginia. I said no, and he explained that his plane got turned around again with the same problem. He and everyone else on the plane was pretty upset. That night, they brought in a new plane, and they made it to Africa.

That's it. Congrats if you actually made it to the end. Not sure I would have if I was reading it. So, long story short, we ran in to lots of crazy things on our way, but everything turned out fine. It felt like everything that went wrong had a distinct reason for happening. Everything was backwards, but it was right for the situation we were in. We can definitely see Heavenly Father's hand in our lives.

So, remind me to post about our trip to the beach, the playground, and the Fourth of July so I don't have anymore of this binge posting.

WARNING-Poop in this Post!

2010-05-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

I warned you. If you don't want to see poop, don't look.
Cameron won't tell us when he has so poop. It drives me crazy! He will pee in the potty all the time and rarely has pee accidents anymore. Put poop-well that's a whole other story. The only time I could ever get him to poop in the his potty seat or the toilet was when I saw him grabbing his butt.
Well, today we had run out of underwear. It was ALL dirty. I was not about to put a diaper on him because we all know where that leads...Regression! So, he got pants and only pants.
Then it happened.

I smelled something totally rank.
I asked him if he needed to poop.
He said "I need to go poop!" (a little late)
I looked down his pants-and there it was. A mudslide of poop all the way down his pants and on his sock.
I made him walk to the bathroom, cleaned him up, and put him in the tub.
I walked back to the room I was in, and right there on the floor was another surprise for me-a Racquetball sized turd right in the doorway. It had fallen out of his pants and onto the floor! Lucky for you I didn't take a picture of that.

So...here's your picture of poop. Kid "blowouts" are way more disgusting than baby blowouts. Just in case your wondering, this isn't the first time I've found poop balls on my carpet, just the first time I decided to write about it!

Today...

2010-05-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

Today is Cinco de Mayo. Many people are dancing and celebrating in beautiful weather.

Here in Montana, I decided to stay inside today. (We get snow in June) But it's okay, because I'm wearing something warm, and something special.

Clint and I recently went through the rest of my brother, David's, box of books and sweaters that my mom left here. It was hard to get rid of anything, and we kept a lot of his sweaters. (We actually haven't gotten rid of any of his sweaters yet, so if any of my siblings want some sweaters, let me know). David wore sweaters all the time, even in the summer. And today, I decided to wear one.

It makes me miss him so much.

We didn't wash them yet, so I take in his smell.

I know that it isn't his birthday, or the anniversary of his death, but I've been thinking about him lately, and I wanted to feel close to him. I love my brother and hope he is doing well where he is.

In Memory of Tiger

2010-03-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

You were a beloved member of our family.

Cameron took you EVERYWHERE, cried to you, peed on you, vomited on you (a couple of times), ripped your Ty tag off, but most of all, he loved you. We're very sorry we left you at the doctor's office. When we called back, they couldn't find you. I'm sure you have another new loving home with a child who will love you, but not as much as Cameron, because you probably gave that poor little kid Croupe. Cameron has been crying for you the past 5+ days. You are loved and will be missed.

No one could ever replace you, we know that. But if you loved Cameron as much as we do, I'm sure you would want him to be happy. He did in fact cuddle you every night since he was about six months old, and a lot during the day too! It must have been hard to breathe sometimes, but I bet you enjoyed your time with Cameron. To him you were Real. I'm sure some fairy has taken you and made you real, and even though you will miss Cameron and he will miss you, we are happy you are happy (see the Velveteen Rabbit). Don't worry, we told Cameron you went on a Safari. Because we don't want Cameron to miss you too much, we decided that your twin brother from Ebay would make him happy too. Isn't it weird that his name is Tiger too? Thank you for all the time you spent with our Cameron, and for loving him so much.

P.S. Sorry you have such a boring name. This family isn't really creative that way. Our children will likely grow up without nicknames. Someday someone will ask our kids what their nicknames are, and they will have to say "well, sometimes I was called stinker, monster, or crazy kid" Not really unique...oh well.

I've got a biter

2010-03-26T03:22:00.000-07:00

(Picture from parentsconnect.com via google)

When it comes to my children, Cameron and Ethan are polar opposites in just about every category.

Cameron was never much of a biter, thank goodness. He only bit me a couple of times, and that was it.

Ethan on the other hand, bites all the time. I'm not sure why. Maybe he thinks it's comfortable. Seriously, he bites me and keeps his jaw clenched. Owww!

Since I know many of you have had this problem, I am asking for your help. What suggestions do you have to get him to stop biting me? Please help!

I just can't help myself.

2010-03-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

I could nibble on these toes all day long!

What We've Been Up To...

2010-03-17T02:27:00.001-07:00

Not much of anything. But we love to play!

Washington

2010-03-09T12:02:00.001-08:00

We just took a trip to Moses Lake, Washington last weekend to visit Clint's brother Cody and his wife Shauna. Clint and Lance, Cody's old mission companion (he's like a brother to Clint and Cody) spent literally all day helping Cody remodel part of his house, and the next day they all went Pheasant hunting. It was fun to see everyone, and I got some extra help with the kids--score!

Left to right: Lance, Cody, Cameron, Shauna, Ethan, Bekah, Clint

Cody, Lance, and Clint

A picture I took on the drive-I think this is Coeur d'alene, Idaho

_______________________________________________________

While we were loading the car up for our trip, we were all outside, so we put Ethan in his snowsuit and he slept on the front porch. I felt so bad, but he was comfortable and it really was only a little chilly outside anyway.

The rest are just random pictures.

2 Months

2010-03-01T12:08:00.000-08:00

Ethan turned two months a week ago, but after being in the hospital and having lots of needles poking him, we decided to wait a week for his well-check.

Here are his stats:

Weight: 12 lbs. 5 oz. (75th percentile!)

Height: 23.4 inches (also 75th percentile)

Head Circumference: 50th percentile

Our boy is growing fast! He is so stinking cute and smiles and laughs a lot. He loves loves loves his older brother. Cameron loves Ethan too. He is so protective of him, and loves to give him hugs and kisses. He hates to see Ethan cry and tells him it's okay and pats his cheeks.

Blessing Day

2010-02-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

Clint blessed Ethan at church today. We were supposed to do it the first Sunday in February, but I ended up getting sick and just about everyone we asked to be in the circle had to work because of the base inspections going on the whole month. Oh well.

And just to show you my mad sewing skills...I made his outfit and booties myself.

Home From the Hospital

2010-02-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

So, a few days ago, Ethan started getting a cold-so did Cameron and I. But then he started getting a fever, and let me tell you, I thought he was already fussy! We took him into the insta care on Saturday morning around 8am.

Side note: the night before, we took both kids to the movie theater with us and watched Avatar at 10:30pm. Cameron does really good in the movies now, and we figured he would just sleep anyway. NOT A CHANCE. He stayed awake during the whole movie! And we didn't get home until 2:30am. So getting him up at 7:30 the next morning, you can understand why he wouldn't stop throwing tantrums all day-which I felt really bad about because he had to go to the babysitter. Okay, that was a really long side note. Now, on to the rest.

They took Ethan's temperature and it was high, so they checked him out and couldn't find anything like an ear infection or things that you could see easily, so by 9:00 we were in the hospital, and Ethan was in one of those cages they call cribs. He'd gotten some tylenol by this point and was doing better, but still seemed like something was hurting him. They took some blood cultures, some fluid from his nose, and a urine test. They gave him some antibiotics, and then we waited and waited and waited. And then we waited some more. We waited for 2 days. In the meantime, every test came back negative, and so they gave him some more antibiotics to last another 48 hours. They sent us home on Monday around 11am. They said it was probably just viral infection ( I'm guessing from the cold he was getting).

All cozied up on Mommy. This is where he preferred to be, pretty much the entire time. And I don't blame him.

Race Car Display

2010-02-10T06:27:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately we missed the Home Depot kid's project in January, which makes me sad because it was so stinking cute. But can you blame us with a two week old baby? Anyway, we made it back there this month. Cameron loved his new race car display. He loves cars and so this is perfect for him. Right now he is on a Cars (the movie) kick. He already has Lightning McQueen or Liking McQueen as he calls it, Doc Hudson, Dinoco aka. The King (we never saw the movie when we got this car for him and didn't know his name, so we just called him Dinoco, and it stuck), and a green Vitoline car that looks like one of the cars from the movie, so he calls it Vitoline.

Anyway...he went with his little friend and had a blast, then we got some apple pies from McDonalds on the way home. We had a great time.

P.S. We were having so much fun helping Cameron make his Display, that when it was time to leave I almost left Ethan in his car seat in a Home Depot Cart! Ahhh! I forgot for a second that I have 2 kids now.

My new camera

2010-02-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

My husband loves me. Well...I never thought he didn't. But I'm so giddy. Hopefully some great pictures will follow this post.

My 2 year old monster...

2010-02-02T13:06:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, this is what happens when I am taking care of the baby. Yes, Cameron is in Ethan's baby tub. I put Cameron in the bathtub and gave Ethan a bath in his baby tub. When I was done, I took Ethan to get him dressed, and this is what I found when I got back. Needless to say, a big kid in a tiny bath will make a big water mess...everywhere. Instead of getting mad, I made myself shrug it off and take a picture! It's only water anyway.

Some Pictures...finally!

2010-02-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

If you head over to my jewelry blog, you will be lavished with nineteen, yes that's right nineteen pictures of bracelets. Just bracelets...and that's not even my whole collection of bracelets. That's just a start to get to looking and to keep you interested...hopefully. Anyway, just head over there and check it out!

My Dad

2010-01-25T12:18:00.001-08:00

If you don't know my dad, this is him...

(Alissa-if you couldn't tell, I stole this picture off your blog. I have no good pictures of Dad)

Many people are afraid of my dad, but they just don't get his personality. He IS very humorous, but you've got to be paying attention. And, I'm sure most if not all of my siblings could conjure up at least one photo of my dad smiling or doing something silly for blackmail. But the point is that I have the best dad ever. And in two months or so I will get to spend seven months with him. That's a post all on its own. You might not think that's so lucky, but I'm happy about it.

So, the reason for this post, is what I was surprised with on Christmas morning. I took a trip down to Utah in November and visited my brother Matt. His wife Erikka just had a little girl in August. When I went to their house, I saw a beautiful cradle, and I knew right away my dad had to have made that for them. After I left, I called my mom and jokingly told her that I wanted one and I expected one for my baby. I did this jokingly because I knew there was no way I could have expected my dad to make one in that short amount of time and I would have felt low for asking for one. So yes...this was my surprise under the Christmas tree from my dad.

(baby not included)

Apparently when I was talking to my mom about the cradle on the phone, my dad had mine 3/4 done! And that's not all. He made one for my sister Alissa and my other brother Andrew. That's four, and he's in the process of making two more! He is truly an amazing woodworker. Yes, I love my daddy!

Oh, and here's an advertisement: If you think these are just so darn cute and you want one, I bet you can order one from him. Check out his website Red Lion Woodcraft. His website is currently under construction, but he can make pretty much anything!

Fashionable Finery

2010-01-22T22:22:00.001-08:00

So...I'm not really good at coming up with cool catchy names, but I've decided to go ahead and put up a blog for my jewelry that I make. So far there's not much on there, but you can go ahead and take a look at it!

http://fashionablefinery.blogspot.com

One month

2010-01-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

That's right folks, it's already been a month. When it's your own, it seems to go much faster. I can't believe my little baby is growing so fast. He is actually starting to fill out his 0-3 months clothing now. He's been able to wear pretty much all of his clothes, whereas Cameron at a whopping 8lbs 14oz had some clothes he never wore. Cameron came home in a newborn outfit that was tight on him.

But this post is about Ethan, so let's stick to the topic. Let's see...

Major Accomplishments: Last night he slept for 5 hours straight. However, it was in my arms. Not such a good sleeper when it comes around to bedtime. But we'll give him that. Right before he slept for five hours, he decided to be awake for 5 1/2 hours! I guess we'll call that an accomplishment too. Since he was 2 days old, he's been trying to lift his head, and now at a month old, he does pretty well. He still looks like one of those bobble head dolls though.

Things we'd like him to work on (because this is his report card after all): Lay down for a nap. We really don't care where, but anywhere that doesn't require our arms and swinging him. We think maybe he's got some gassy/colic problems; thus the reason for all of his fussiness and refusal to sleep laying down.

I think we'll give him an A+ for just being so darn cute and cuddly. We love him and are STILL so happy he's here. We give him bonus points for future time he will spend playing and fighting with Cameron.

And of course, if you even got this far... some pictures!

Ethan Grant

2009-12-23T13:48:00.000-08:00

The newest member of our family arrived on Tuesday, December 22nd, at 10:52am. He was 7 lbs 3 oz, 20 1/2 inches long and cute as heck! Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

All ready for the hospital

First picture after coming into the world

All cozy on mommy's chest

All ready to go home in the cold Montana weather!

Clint's Deer

2009-11-12T07:13:00.000-08:00

Clint has been hunting a few times this season and passed up several deer-mostly because he just liked going hiking and because the deer population in Montana is larger than the human population, so he could afford to be choosy. So yesterday morning he got his deer. It a mule deer buck. It's rack isn't too big, but the actual deer is pretty big-which saves us a lot of money on meat! I'm so proud of him.

This picture is of Clint with the front half of his deer in our garage

after he had gutted it and brought it home.

An update...

2009-11-03T08:46:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know I'm a terrible blogger. Just about every post seems to be an update with a bunch of random pictures, but it's more for me than you anyway. So here are some pictures of the last two months. Unfortunately, when Clint and I celebrated our fourth anniversary on August 19th, we forgot our camera, and so we bought a disposable one, and the pictures haven't been developed yet. I might get to that and post it, or I might not. So there's the update about that.

There's my girl! Oh wait, I have a boy. Well sometimes he likes to do girlie things like carry around a purse.

Um...yeah.

What a weirdo, he likes to watch his movies like this!

We recently took a trip to the closest temple (3 hours away). This is the Billings, MT temple. We got Cameron to point to the Angel Moroni and he would say "Yeah Angel Oroni"

It's a bird, it's a plane...

2009-11-03T08:13:00.000-08:00

This just in... we have spotted Superman right here in Great Falls, Montana. Why he chooses to stick around with this family, we're just not sure. But they do give him lots of candy and he seems to like it!

Apparently Superman's got a girlfriend too! (Supergirl-and yes I made both of their costumes)

We went bowling the weekend before Halloween for the city's Big Brothers Big Sister's charity event, and the theme was 80's rock and roll. I don't think I pulled it off very well, but I did win best hair and won a free hair cut, that I will use for Clint or Cameron. But anyway, this seems to be the best shot I could get of my costume and my belly. Too bad I've got my eyes half closed and a sucker in my mouth.

Two years in this crazy life

2009-08-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

And what does he think about it? Well... see for yourself, he love's it!

Oh yeah...Clint and I had fun too!

Happy birthday Cameron!

I've only been waiting 16 weeks for this...

2009-08-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

Yep, you guessed it. Baby number 2 is on HIS (so it's a boy!) way.

I am 20 weeks today, only 20 more to go.

Due December 31st.

I decided to wait to post this until I knew what I was having. I think Cameron is starting to catch on that there is actually a baby in my belly, but what do I know. We couldn't be happier. And the baby seems to be very healthy so far!

Home Depot Kids Project and some misc. pictures...

2009-08-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

So, one Saturday a month the Home Depot sets up a kids project area. The kids can do a quick and easy project that is FREE! I love it. So far Cameron has gone twice, and he loves using a real hammer and screw driver. He says, "I fix it," which is something he does at home too. If he finds a screw driver, he will stick it in any hole he can find and turn the screw driver. Good thing we have outlet covers. Anyway, when he completes his wood project, they give him a certificate and a pin to go on his apron that he received the first time he went. We just love it. This last project only took about ten minutes to do. And when we were done we told him how proud we were of him and took him out for an icecream cone. It's such a fun Saturday activity!

Here is his message board that he (we made), with hooks,

a cork board, and dry erase board. We will be putting his

"car keys" on the hooks.

And another of him smiling because he's so funny.

And here are some more cute pictures of Cameron...

Coming down the waterslide when we were in Rexburg

He kept kicking me when we were on our way to Rexburg

Riding his bike with his best friend, Christian. He can't quite ride it yet.

At the American Cancer society Relay for Life

Big smiles at the water park

My name

2009-05-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

I got this off of a friend's blog, and figured my name wouldn't be very popular (well at least first and last together), and turns out...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
1
or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A.

http://howmanyofme.com">How many have your name?

It isn't.

Oh my words.

2009-05-16T18:56:00.000-07:00

Lately Cameron has become such a chatterbox. So I decided to write down all the words I could think of that he knows and says. He actually says all of these words without repeating us. It's amazing! I started about a week ago, and I've been adding 3-4 words each day. So, before this list gets too big, here it is. Oh...some are short 2 word phrases and some I'm no so thrilled about. I'm sure you get guess which ones.

airplane
all done
all gone
apple
baby
ball
bath
bed
belly
bike
bin
bite
blanket
book
brush teeth
buckle
button
bye (or bye-bye)
car
cat
cereal
cheese
chip
clean-up
coat
cold
cookie
cool
cup
cute(says it about my necklaces)
dad
diaper
dog
don't do that
door
down
ears
eyes
glasses
gum
hair
hand
hat
hello
hi
hot
ice
I go
keys
light
mat
mine
mommy
money
more
mouth
night-night
nine
no
no more
nose
okay
oh crap
oh man
on
orange
pat-pat
pee
please
poopy
seat
see ya
shoe
sit down
sky
slipper
sock
some (more)
sorry
spoon (pronounced soup)
stop
table
teeth
thank you
tiger
tigger
toilet
up
wagon
want some
water
Willow (a name)
yeah
118. zipper
(I didn't feel like numbering them all without my ten key pad thingy)

By the way...I really hate that there is no way to put things in columns without actually using your space bar 15 times between each word. I was not about to do that. I can't even use the tab button. And since I put this into a word document and used columns, unfortunately it doesn't copy over that way. So, sorry for the lengthy looking post.

Rachel's Gift.

2009-02-08T15:56:00.000-08:00

My sister finally got her Christmas present from me, which I had completed a week before Christmas, but never got it sent to her. Typical.

Anway, here it is. I love it and wanted to keep it for myself, but now I think I will just make one for myself.

This one is for holding earrings. You just hang the frame on the wall and stick the earrings in the material.

This one obviously holds necklaces and bracelets.

Now that is a clean face.

2009-02-05T14:55:00.000-08:00

Well, at least compared to this...

And this...

And this...

And most recently...

THIS! Which isn't nearly as bad as what I didn't catch on camera.

But the first picture is what I love to see. I gave Cameron a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and he #1 ate the whole thing, which NEVER happens around here, and #2 kept his face fairly clean. Gotta love better coordination!

My Little Reader

2009-02-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

The other day I wasn't really paying attention to what Cameron was doing, so I went to find him, and this is what I saw.

So freaking cute. When I found him, he was talking like he was reading and laughing hysterically.

Best Friends

2009-01-31T09:38:00.000-08:00

Vickie, one of Clint's coworkers, has become one of our really good friends here in Montana. Actually pretty much our only good friend. Her and her husband have a 22 month old boy, Christian. They are over at our house all the time and vise versa. Christian and Cameron have become quite a pair.

I just have to post this...

2009-01-21T12:37:00.000-08:00

My sister just posted about her son who is now learning to fold his arms. When I read it, I got so excited because I'd been wanting to post this same thing about Cameron since Sunday when he learned to do it. I thought Cameron was a little behind learning to fold his arms, and I was so excited when he finally folded his arms in church on Sunday when I told him to. He even bows his head. It's so stinking cute. But my sister's kid is three days older than Cameron, so we must have done something right.

He was trying to bow his head and look up at the camera in this picture. I just love it!

Is is too late for Christmas?

2009-01-19T19:55:00.000-08:00

This post is really late in coming, but I'm lazy and finally decided I should post Christmas and all the happenings since, before I decide myself that it's too late.

Christmas...was great. Clint and I stayed in Montana and had our own little Christmas. We did some really fun things this year and thought I would share.

Advent Garland for the 12 days of Christmas. Each day we chose one activity to do. Very fun. Check out my sister's blog for the whole explanation.

Clint's office had a Christmas party for the kids and Cameron had a blast making cookies, snowmen, visiting with Santa, opening a present (from us), swinging at a pinata, and he even got his own stocking and decorated ornament with his name on each of them.

Making a snowman

Decorating a cookie

Sitting on Santa's lap (screaming is more like it)

Opening his present (he wouldn't sit on Santa's lap)

Clint helping Cameron swing at the wreath pinata

We also went to the ward Christmas party. It was mostly for the kids. Different rooms around the building were decorated for the story that was being read to the kids. The kids sat on the floor and wore pajamas. It was...interesting. Kind of boring for us. But Cameron somewhat enjoyed himself. He really enjoyed the activity when The Miracle of Jonathan Toomey (one of my favorite Christmas stories since 7th grade) was read and he got to decorate a nativity scene with stickers. I think he did a fabulous job.

Here is the Christmas Tree, stockings, and other such things.

We made a gingerbread house this year. It was fun except that it took a really long time and it still looks a little sloppy to me. I think next year we'll stick to candy trains. Plus Cameron can probably help with those. He couldn't really do much with the gingerbread house.

Here is our Christmas tree. I couldn't get a very good picture with my simple digital camera. But tree lights were on in this picture. Cameron did a really good job at not touching the ornaments or the presents. We also have a tradition that we made in our little family. Clint makes the star out of garland and a clothes hanger and sticks a light up in the middle of it every year. It's actually really pretty. This year he did a four point star. I like the five point star myself.

Here are our stockings. Both Clint's and my stockings are homemade. I wanted to make Cameron's this year but didn't get a chance because I got busy making Clint's Christmas present, so we used the one from the kid's Christmas party.

Cameron had way more fun opening presents this year, but he is 12 months older. He loved just ripping the paper off and getting another present. He helped us open our presents.

Every year when Clint was growing up he would get a teddy bear for Christmas. I'm not exactly sure how he lost his every year. But we decided that we would at least get one for Cameron this year. Thanks goes to the Dollar Store for that one (and most of his stupid little presents that just gave him more to unwrap. He absolutely loved his bear and he still does. Now he has to sleep with his white tiger and his bear. And sometimes he needs all three of his stuffed animals including his Tigger.

Cameron kept trying to get the tricylcle out from under the tree, but we made him wait till last on that present. He loved it and we had to push him around on it all day. He can sort of reach the peddals, but isn't strong enough to move them yet. I'm sure we'll see him strolling around in no time.

Is there such a thing....

2008-12-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

as Clean Lingerie?

*Note: If you are offended by lingerie, stop reading and skip to the next post, I won't be offended.*

So, I took a trip to Utah last week to turn in my final project/portfolio for school and decided to spend some time with friends and family. On my way down to Provo, I pass this very intriguing billboard that says...

His and Hers married lingerie

Delightful-Tasteful-Clean

Delightful I understand, tasteful-well of course, but clean-I've never heard lingerie called clean. The thought that came into my head was that they must be white, with sleeves, knee length, and most definitely not sheer or see through. How do you think Mormon wives have so many kids, by covering themselves up? I don't think so. If there was any truth to that last statement, however I would back it up with facts. Unfortunately, I just thought it was funny.

Last vent: When you are married, anything is clean

Something see-through
Something not white, could be red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, black, brown, and every other color in a box of 64 crayons (except that weird macaroni and cheese color might be a little weird-your hubby comes home and you say "hey babe... I'm wearing mac and cheese tonight")
a G-string
Even a cop and waitress outfit, or santa and helper outfit, or doctor and nurse, just whatever your mind comes up with is clean.

The Best Update Ever!

2008-12-16T06:17:00.000-08:00

It's true...I'm done with my bachelor's degree. I finished and turned in my very last assignment (AKA really gigantic project) last Monday, the 8th. I'm just really late at posting this wonderful message. I can finally stay at home with Cameron. I'm signed up to substitute teach, which I might do if we are tight on money. Well were always tight, but what I mean is if I want some extra money to spend or we can't buy food or something. Otherwise, I'll be right here at home. Yea for being done!

I could very possibly be the worst mother ever!

2008-11-26T08:32:00.000-08:00

And this is why...

We like to play- a lot. That's good, until someone gets hurt. Itsn't that something you always heard your mother say? Well, apparently I didn't get the hint. You see, sometimes when we play I like to sit on the kitchen counter and Cameron stands between my legs with his arms over my legs. Then he holds on to my legs and I straighten my legs out and pick him up and back down, and he just swings from my legs. We love this game. I'm sure you know where this is going. Well, when my legs were straight and he was swinging once, he decided that he couldn't hold on anymore and let go. He did a whole body flop on the kitchen floor. First was the bloody lip, then came the bloody nose, and last came the fat lip. I felt so bad, like someone had told me not to do it and I did it anyway like I was a kid. Now I'm sure none of you have ever hurt your kids before and you think I am the most terrible mother ever. But Cameron, whose cry is ear piercing decided to just cry a regular cry for about 20 seconds and was done and hugged me, like he was saying "Oh mom, we were having fun, accidents happen and I'm okay." I love my baby/big boy.

And here's a picture of Cameron sporting his new haircut in the bathtub.

I said big boy-not BUZZ!!!!!!

2008-11-24T19:45:00.000-08:00

Tonight I literally cried at the sight of my child's hair. Not that it looks bad. But once again I said big boy...

not BUZZ!

Cameron has had two haircuts already, but only to get rid of his nasty ear bangs and hair out of his eyes. Clint and I decided a few days ago that it was time to give Cameron a big boy haircut, and we've been preparing him for it by talking to him a about it and showing him how Clint uses the clippers on his own head. He was an angel for the haircut.

Unfortunately, this is what he ended up with. Clint accidentally used the wrong size on the top of his head and gave him a buzz. How lovely. I didn't want to use the clippers at all. So, next month, I'll be the one cutting his hair-thank you very much.

In the middle of the cut, I took this picture. This is something I like to call a baby mullet.

Isn't it a little late...

2008-11-24T19:26:00.000-08:00

FOR HALLOWEEN?

Yes I know, but what can I say, I'm a late blogger. And a terrible picture taker too. These pictures weren't actually taken on Halloween when Cameron was trick-or-treating. In fact they were taken tonight, almost a month after Halloween. When we went trick-or-treating I forgot to take the camera, and therefore here are pictures of Cameron in his Halloween costume now. His costume wasn't anything special, since I didn't get his costume that I was sewing done. So we got this one for free. The cool thing about this costume, is that cameron has a tigger stuffed animal that looks just like him.

Here is his cute little Tigger behind.

This is the picture that in a few years when I have forgotten all about this, will say on my scrapbook page that this is when he got tired of trick-or-treating.

More of my cute kid!

2008-11-14T16:51:00.000-08:00

(Giggle giggle)

Sorry for the nudity

I don't know why I am showing this, I just get so excited when Cameron learns how to do something new like put his socks on. He's known for a while where socks go (on his feet), but now he knows how to put them on, even if he can't yet.

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah! Zip-a-dee-ay...

2008-11-14T15:59:00.000-08:00

and Hallelujah, and all those other words that translate to mean:

"STUDENT TEACHING IS OVER!"

I finished today and couldn't be happier. I really enjoyed my student teaching overall, but I am just so excited to be able to stay home with Cameron now. Unfortunately, I have to be the one to feed him a healthy breakfast and lunch. But I think I'll manage.

So today, in all the classes we had a party for me. I tried not to eat too much junk food, since we had some every period. I got cards, balloons, flowers, hugs, etc. It was really nice. Some of the girls who I thought hated me, gave me hugs and wrote really nice things on the card. However, I still think some of them will call me some well not so nice names behind my back. But teenage girls do that to their best friends. Anyway, here are some pictures.

Here is one of the cards that was made for me by the ninth grade choir. They made it on a large sheet of poster board. The two girls who I thought really didn't like me, were the ones who volunteered to make it. Very cute.

Here is the card in it's entirety, minus two that signed it on the back. I read the comments and they were all very nice. I felt bad because a lot of them said something like thank you for putting up with up. I think they thought I thought they were a bad class. This was actually my favorite class.

Then, there's this kid, who didn't say more than two words directly to me the whole time and writes this on the card...

and this...

PICTURES!!!!!

2008-11-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

Finally... and this is the second time I am trying to do this post. I got to tired of uploading pictures and went to bed. So this time, I'll only do a couple very recent pictures and go from there, some other time. So here they are in no particular order...

This picture was taken about a month ago, right before we moved onto the Air Force base.

I think he was a little tired

Cameron's first birthday cake

Cameron's first birthday

August 15, 2008

(he and I both got really sunburnt that

day at the base picnic)

The first snowfall of the year

We got five inches!

Cameron playing his masterpiece on the piano

Just like mommy.

Okay...that's all for now, but if you look at my facebook pictures, there will be a lot more there!

Things I Have Done

2008-11-03T16:35:00.000-08:00

I found this tag on a friends blog and thought it would be fun to complete. I have accomplished some things but there are a lot of things I haven't done yet. Bold/change color of the font of the things that you have done. I invite anyone to complete this.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland-even better Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea-not at sea but on the Arizona strip.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch-sort of
15. Adopted a child-no but I want to!
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables-I count helping my mom
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping--don't ask.
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

An update...like usual.

2008-09-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

Since I can very rarely find the time to get on here and blog, basically all my posts are updates.

First of all, I started my student teaching, and at first I hated it. I am with one of the two choir teachers at the high school. There are nine choirs, five bands, and four orchestras. How crazy is that? Well, we do five of the choirs. One is a nine grade SATB (boys and girls) choir, and the rest are all girl choirs. Can you say an unfair amount of teenage female hormones? Holy cow. But, it's been couple weeks, and I am really starting to enjoy myself. The first concert is October 14th!

Cameron is just growing like crazy. If I could put pictures on here, I totally would. He now has 8 teeth and I think he's teething again. He will probably be getting some molers (Spelling?). He is one solid kid. We feed him, but he is so skinny. Absolutely no fat on his body. It's all muscle. He is so strong and can throw really well. He is learning new things everyday. He says hi (and he waves), he calls both me and Clint 'dat' for dad, uh-oh, what's that, and what is that. He understands the words for sippy, ball, tiger (his stuffed animal, which he is attached to), dad, go. And he learns more everyday. Right now he has the flu and threw up six times yesterday. It was so sad when he didn't have any food left in his stomach. He is such a trooper.

Clint is doing well, but very stressed. He spends every waking minute studying his CDC's for the Air Force (Career Development Courses).

Oh, and we are moving! We just got offered a brand new house on Malmstrom Air Force Base, which means we will be the first people to live in it. We are very excited to move, but sad to leave our ward. We've only been here three months and already we are attached to our little ward. But we know that we will be fine wherever we go.

Till next time...

Student Teaching

2008-08-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

Crazy how life just goes and goes and goes and you barely get a minute to rest and write a thing or two on your blog at 11:15 pm.

Well...my student teaching starts tomorrow. But really it started on Monday with all day faculty meetings, and let me tell you they were so incredibly boring, yet scary too. Half the time, I had no idea what in the world they were talking about. They use so many acronyms. I'm just barely getting used to all the acronyms in the Air Force, now I have to learn a whole new set of them.

On Friday, I went in for a group interview for substitute teaching. Apparently they like to hire their student teachers as subsitute teachers, so I said, what the heck. Now when my cooperating teacher is out, I will be able to sub for her. And, the band teacher is pregnant and due right after my student teaching is over and I think will be requesting me as her permanent subsitute!

Well, that's all for now. I'll let you know how it all goes, and hopefully, eventually, maybe, maybe not, oh who knows... I will get some great photos on here of our life since the move.

Time Flies...

2008-07-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

Holy cow. I haven't blogged in a while. But just so everyone is filled in somewhat on the events in my life to this point...

We have been in Montana now for about three weeks. It is beautiful here. We are renting a cute little three bedroom house in a lovely little neighborhood. I really like Montana. But I've already found the things that I really dislike about Montana too. It is so small that flying out of Great Falls in incredibly expensive, the mosquitos are everywhere. We can't step outside without drenching ourselves in nasty repellent. There are so many one way roads. It is really scary, we've already gone the wrong way a couple of times now. Last, the intersections...they are TERRIBLE. At a four way intersection, there are no stop signs for either road. It's scary. If you are going North or South, then the other way is supposed to yield to you...i think, or maybe it's the other way around. Unfortunately for me, the grid is so different from Utah, I'm having a really hard time getting oriented. So far, this is my internal map...if we are going toward the Air Force base we are going east, away from it west. My house faces North, which is the way to Walmart. Anywhere else, and I am so turned around. But I guess it just takes time.
Cameron is growing so fast. He now has two bottom teeth, which he's had for a while, two top teeth, cutting two more top teeth, and cutting another bottom tooth. He is 20 lbs 4 oz. He loves to climb up the stairs, which we didn't have when we lived in Orem. He can walk a few steps (up to about 7 max) and then his legs buckle and he falls. He has become quite the troublemaker and loves to get into everything. He repeats a lot of sounds and has said "oww" "Whoa" and "Achoo" and when he knows he's going to get into trouble, before you can do or say anything he kisses you. He must think that will save him. As of right now, I am sitting in a parking lot that has WIFI Access typing on Clint's laptop. We do not have internet access at home right now and we're not sure when we will be getting it. But no doubt, I WILL be putting lots of pictures up soon, probably all of Cameron. He's the reason anyone actually reads this blog in the first place. Well, keep checking and sooner or later you will see some fun pictures.

Right handed

2008-05-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a video clip of Cameron walking. I think he's going to be right handed because he takes small steps with his left foot and huge ones with his right foot. It's really funny. I'm also working on getting him to run backwards. This isn't his best work.

Here's...an update

2008-05-16T20:43:00.001-07:00

1. Cameron had his nine month well check today, and he's just so perfect. 75th percentile for height and 45th for weight. He already has two bottom teeth and is cutting four top teeth. The pediatrician said to start feeding him the same food that I eat, which I just have to say is kinda SCARY for me. And last but not least, he is just moving around so fast, it's hard to keep up with him, standing on everything, and has the ever dreaded separation anxiety. But still, oh so perfect. And here are some pictures of Cameron having fun in the grass.

The sun in his eyes.

Cameron trying to eat a flower.

2. Clint comes home in 20 days, June 5th. I cannot wait, I'm so excited. And on June 20th we move to Montana, 2 days after my summer classes are over.

3. Speaking of summer classes, I realized that I love summer semester and hate the regular semesters. For fifteen weeks I am incredibly stressed and all the assignments and projects just pile up at the end of the semester. I have fifteen weeks to be stressed. But, during the summer semester, which is half as long, I don't get the chance to be stressed for very long. It's wonderful.

Lillian

2008-05-07T13:57:00.000-07:00

My sister Jenny tagged me to use the letters of my middle name to describe me. And since I hate to be serious, I figure I'll just use some...well interesting words.

L-Limeade: a little sour, and a lot sweet.
I-Irregular: Not in the way you think. I'd have to admit I'm a bit weird, but aren't we all? I can be all over the place and back again in my mind.
L-Learner: Since I'm still in school, I'd have to say I'm a learner, but hopefully that will be the case for the rest of my life.
L-Leggings: I'm like leggings because I cling to my husband and family.
I-Invincible: I like to pretend that I'm invincible, but really... Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, you name it.
A-Affordable: I'd like to think that I'm not really a big spender, and I know when to stop. My husband can afford me.
N-Necessary: As much as I'd like to think that I could just let Cameron play by himself every once in a while, and that he really doesn't need me to play with him all the time, it just isn't that way. But secretly I love it.

Let's see: I tag Sarah.

Can't a mom get any sleep?

2008-05-02T17:39:00.000-07:00

I fell asleep on the couch today for no more than five minutes. And I wake up to Cameron standing by the couch whining and pulling on my feet. I also woke up to this...

Gee, I'm a lucky duck! Notice the speaker pulled way off the shelf. Once I found him eating ranch dressing out of a little container I accidentally left lying around. Won't do that anymore. But, no worries, he just puked it all up all over me. Woot!

Speaking of Crawling

2008-05-01T14:52:00.001-07:00

Okay, so Cameron was doing this funky Army crawl FOREVER, and he finally started to crawl for real! Now I miss the army crawl cause it was so dang cute. He is also pulling himself up like crazy and using anything and everything to stand up, especially the drawers in the kitchen. I have to keep all the other doors shut so he doesn't go into any of the other rooms while I'm not looking and hurt himself.

Here is a cute picture of Cameron.

That's what I'm talking about!

2008-04-30T15:24:00.001-07:00

Yep, all A's. Enough said.

1728 Hours Later

2008-04-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

I finally made it through my last real semester of school. 1728 hours of just classes throughout the semester. That doesn't count all the hours I am actually at school or studying. I had 21 credits this semester and had classes 24 hours a week. Don't ask me what possessed me to take that many credits with a baby and Clint being gone at tech school in Mississippi. But who cares now, it's over!! I think I got A's in all my classes too. Not sure yet, I'll keep you posted.

Anyway, here's a picture to keep you interested.

Here We Go!

2008-04-20T18:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I have joined the blogging world. I hope to use this in order to keep everyone updated about our little family since we will be moving to Montana in June. Hopefully (after finals are over this week) I will actually post some pictures. Until then!