Chey feeding Zoe

Chey and Dallas were both in less-than-favorable-graces of Mom and Dad tonight (care of not listening at the park coupled with blatant disobedience) but it is still shower night and boy did those kids need to be washed. Chey had been reduced to sitting in her little chair right next to me (otherwise her personal choices left much to be desired) while I finished feeding Zoe. Cam was down the hall getting Dallas going on his shower.

After Zoe shoved a fist in her mouth, I decided she must not want to finish her jar after all and left to use the bathroom telling Chey she "needed to be in that chair when I got back or she would be in trouble." When finished, I walked back out to the kitchen just in time to see this:

Sometimes kids make up for hours of horrible behavior with only minutes to spare...

Zoe

Since I took that break from Blogging I have decided this is a very good way to keep track of the growth and changes my children make. That being said, I have a lot of catching up to do including the introduction of Zoe.

Zoe at birth. She had a fight with the birth canal and doctor, but that is another story!

Zoe was born in September. She is currently five months old and so much fun! She has figured out how to roll from front to back (she was doing this late two months) and then from back to front and is now army crawling around. I don't think she is satisfied with her mobility. She will pull herself up on to hands and knees. She loves playing with her siblings toys and looking at (and slobbering on) books.

Zoe around two months old.

Last night I was giving a family night out of the nursery manual. Zoe was a few feet away from me and the kids. We were all on the floor. Once I pulled out a picture and held it for Dallas and Chey to look at, Zoe started making her way over and soon was looking at the picture and gumming my knee. She really loves to be involved.

Dallas, Chelane, and Zoe a few weeks after she was born.

She doesn't take a pacifier and isn't fond of a bottle. She was fed from a bottle for a day six weeks after she was born; the day I had my gall bladder out. Luckily, she took the bottle for Cameron that day. She has discovered her thumb and, when she is really tired, will plug herself with that and drift off to sleep. Note that she only does that when she is REALLY tired and SHE has to plug herself with it, she doesn't take kindly to me trying to plug her!

Zoe and her thumb.

Now I preferred my thumb so much that I sucked mine until Kindergarten. So I am a bit worried about the thumb sucking. However, Chelane likes her binky. In fact until we lost it she sucked on it ALL the time. Even now she will sneak a Zoe binky (since they aren't being used) once and a while. Apparently they can both be addictive!

She has also started on some solid food in the last week. We have done cream of rice, cream of wheat, mushed banana (all these mixed with pumped milk) along with bread, white rice, and even waffles right off the table. She seems fond of eating like the rest of us.

Zoe on February 13th, almost five months old.

She is growing and changing so much everyday. She is such a joy to us and we love her!

Potty Training

We potty trained Chelane this last month. We started January 16th going cold turkey. We put on the underwear, bagged up the diapers, and had a talk about keeping dry.

She didn't pick up on going potty nearly as quickly as Dallas did, but she did take herself to poop the first day. We dealt with (what seems to be common) regressing with peeing the second day which she quickly fixed. We thought everything was dandy until she started regressing with pooping the second week.

With encouraging her to start pooping on the toilet again in mind, we made up a potty chart that second week that has a separate "poop" and "pee" sections . Once she filled up the first row (six bowel movements in the toilet) we went to McDonalds (her pick, whenever we ask what she wants for dinner she commonly answered McDonalds so she can, " have chicken nuggets, french fries, apples, and slide down"). Once she fills up the entire poop (12 times) and pee (36 times) she gets sticker earrings. It looks like we will be sticker earring shopping tomorrow!

She is doing great. She hasn't wet the bed at all, in fact she gets herself out of bed in order to go. Chey also has only had two accidents since she started pooping in the toilet again: yesterday when she decided candy she was eating was more important than going potty, that upset us, and a few days ago when Dallas was taking his sweet time in the bathroom and Chey really had to go, that one upset her.

It is nice to have two using the toilet and only the little one in diapers. Downside: our one bathroom is getting lots of use and the toilet needs to be cleaned often, but I'll take it :)

Chey's Birthday

Back in September, Chelane turned the big oh-two.

The question on everyone's lips: "is she in her 'terrible twos'?"
And my answer is: "Chelane is very advanced... we have been dealing with the 'terrible twos' for a few months now".

Chelane (and Dallas) had a wonderful time opening the cards and gifts. Here are some pictures of the day. We were going to have cupcakes and have her blow out a candle, but somehow we never got around to it. Blame it on the Mommy working; I am not good at scheduling family things while working full-time. But we do have some fun pictures nonetheless.

Chelane opening her card.

Chelane opening her first gift: the backpack. She didn't want to take it off all night.


She is very happy to show it off.


Opening Tinkerbell. Dallas and Chelane both enjoy playing with this one :)


Last gift: Baby doll set that I bought at Kmart over a year ago.

Both kids enjoyed celebrating the birthday. Chelane is growing up very fast. She is very vocal and extremely opinionated.

Also of note: as you may have noticed, the back of Chlane's hair is quite short. That is Mommy's handiwork. It was a failed attempted at what was envisioned to be a very cute bob. Obviously the "bob" part didn't pan-out; however, it has tamed her wild locks (by removing them)... for now...

The Apartment * The Job * The Kids * The Hubby

The Apartment: is great. The best self-funded place we have ever lived in since tying the knot. It isn't perfect, but I am ridiculously happy with it, especially after hearing about a teenage "shooter" a block away from a townhouse we had been looking at and wanting(and almost got except the leasing guy went out of town and we couldn't get a hold of him and didn't want to wait). The area down here in South Ogden is much safer, prettier, and out-of-the-way without being way out. Dallas and Chelane are sharing a room (and a bed... it is a full), the Ward has many old people and young couples (I really love having "old people" wards, they have so much more experience and a much better perspective on life), and there are many kids in the apartment complex. I am sure pictures will come shortly.

The Job: is great. I really enjoy teaching but I get WAY stressed out over all the things I need to do. It isn't helping that about a quarter of my Algebra students do not have books (we discovered this a few days before the school year started, the wrong books had been ordered over the summer; we fixed it but the correct books are on back-order) so I am making worksheets for everything lately. Also, it is Parent-Teacher Conference this week so grades need to be in and I get to stay at the school until 8pm on Thursday (yay, me!).

I am still not very organized either. I feel like I am mostly treading water and only making little progress at a time, but it still is progress. I have to keep myself from thinking too long term (of all the things I need to do) or I REALLY freak out. Poor Cam has to deal with it all; I think my moods may have been worse than when I was pregnant. Dallas tells me to "calm down" and asks me if I am OK quite a bit. I have been having a little depression, but I think it is just tied to the new-working-Mom thing. I believe this would be all easier it I knew the kids weren't at home waiting for me to come home. Also, since I do teach math, there are always students who want to stay after because they do not understand something (especially if they missed class), which isn't conducive to the getting-things-done-quickly-at-school-in-order-to-get-home-early desires I have.

However, I did find that the school has a grant for teachers with Math and/or Science licenses: $30/hr for after contracted time spent with tutor students. I already have over seven hours since the beginning of the school-year. It is like having another part-time job.

I do love teaching and I do love math.

The Kids: are great!
Dallas: Dallas' speech is getting better. He talked to his "Nana" on the phone a few weeks ago and she could understand what he was saying without a translator. He is getting better at correcting himself and mimicking correct speech. He is also a puzzle whiz. He doesn't sit still for many things but puzzles, movies, and learning new things he does. The kid is a sponge!

He likes to help in the kitchen: measuring, baking, cleaning. His favorite is to crack eggs and he does so masterfully. You will see a video soon.

We also have a pretty awesome Children's Museum here (I bought a family membership the first week we were here) and we frequent it often (every Friday at least). Aside from there very cool exhibits that keep Dallas and Chelane busy, they have a "step on stage" program and hold a "partici-play" a few times everyday. At these "partici-plays" the kids get to act out parts while a museum employee narrates a story. Dallas loves them; Chelane has a hard time sitting through them. We have some pictures of these as well.

Chelane has started saying three word phrases like: "sit on you" and "stop it, Dallas" all very clearly. She is among the youngest in nursery at church (nursery ages are 15-36+ months and she is only 23 months) but she is almost the tallest (the only child that beats her is over 3 years old). She asked to use the potty the other night and actually went... we are thinking maybe trying to potty train her during my break in October. We haven't decided yet. She is more attached to her binky than ever. She has taken to hiding under the kitchen sink and running away from you when you call. What can I say? She is two.

The Hubby: Cam didn't start school this semester. We didn't realize that tuition was due so soon (which I should have remembered from going to college) and we didn't have all the necessary things to apply for residency yet. While we probably would have been refunded the extra tuition cost, we didn't have the money to front it all right then and were still trying to adjust. So Cam decided to take the time off. He was initially looking for a job, perhaps back at his old work, but we decided against it. The hours wouldn't work well for school and it is a solid 40 minutes away (in good traffic).

He is still looking into other part-time-in-the-evening possibilities, but he is being the stay-at-home daddy for now. During the first week he commented, "Chasing after the kids all day is tiring." Really? I mentioned that if you try to get a schedule going it works better than just trying to keep them out of mischief all day. They are usually car-less during the day so that makes doing things outside the home tough. Right now he and Dallas are doing a 100 piece astronaut puzzle.


An older gentleman sat next to me and the kids in the pew at church(Cam went home a little early with backpain). Chelane sat on his lap from time to time. He said it took him back to 50 years ago when his kids were that little. I know I will cherish these days. Working makes me miss being home. I would change places with Cam in a heartbeat.

PT: Day 20

Almost three week from the time we started getting Dallas to the potty and now he seems to have it down. For the first week he wouldn't go poo in the toilet and THAT was annoying. But on day 10 he did it and it seemed to "click" that he didn't need to be afraid/worried/anxious (or whatever the problem was) anymore. I think I can say he is potty trained. He also filled up his "potty chart" and now we have to go to the Bouncy Place sometime soon. We are very proud of him. He even uses public toilets. What a guy!

I am still frantically applying for jobs in Utah, however the frequency of job postings are lower now. I have one school that wants to interview so Cam, me, and the kiddos are taking a mini-vacation to Utah in June (between Cam's quarters) to do the interview and have a little relaxing time before finishing school and moving. Hopefully another school (or two) will want to interview me and someone will hire me.

Cam will graduate with his Associates in Arts degree in August right before we move and he starts school again at Weber State University. He has already registered for his classes and we have put a deposit on housing. We are keeping a little busy (as you can tell :)

As for Chelane, she sits around and looks cute.

New Tricks

Dallas' preferred method of communication was signing until September-ish of last year. Since then his speech has exploded with full sentences and some fun quirks. We haven't hit the how-do-we-get-him-to-stop-talking yet and still really enjoy hearing him express himself verbally.

Last night he sang "Happy Birthday" to his Grandpa almost completely by himself. He can count to 10 at high speed (we are working on getting through those pesky teen numbers). He doesn't just say "no" but "no no no no no ..." usually with a sing-song tune. But we were really floored last night when, after discussing who was to say the family prayer, Dallas pulled out a "Dear Heavenly Father, Thankee for this day. Thankee for Mom, Ch'ane, (his version of 'Chelane' pronouned 'Shane'), Larryboy (not sure why Larryboy from Veggie Tales was wiggling his way into Dallas' prayers, but Dallas does love watching Larryboy). Thankee for Grampa, Jadon (his 12 year old uncle). Thankee for this day. Thankee play. Thankee Dad, Larryboy, Jadon. Name Jesus Christ, Amen." With no help, no prompting, nothing. Cam and I were very impressed.

Chelane is also learning some new tricks. The most prominent one lately is following his her daddy's footsteps to earn the family name of 'Mooch' by walking up to anyone with food, saying, "bite" and opening her mouth with an "ah, ah, ah" until the bite is given.

PT: Day One

Cam and I decided to take the plunge this weekend (well I guess I more decided and then dragged Cameron off the cliff with me) and potty train Dallas.

I know, I know. Many people are probably aghast that he is almost three and-a-half and we never bothered trying, but don't worry, Cam and I haven't died yet from changing diapers. We also don't feel like any less of a parent for not trying to potty train Dallas earlier (regardless of comments from others since he was about twenty months regarding us toilet training him).

Anyway, justification aside, Dallas is doing very well. We put the underwear on after breakfast (about 9am) and had a talk about the toilet (he already knew what it was, but a reminder always helps), keeping the underwear dry, and letting Mom or Dad know when he needed to go potty. He did wet himself a little (no where near a full release) about 10:30am. Then around 11:30 he was holding himself and dancing around so I insisted he needed to go. I got him on the pot, turned the faucet on a little, and went to get him a drink of water (I was trying to encourage him all I could; when I came back he was going in the potty and it was a FULL bladder release.

He has not peed anywhere but the toilet since. Many time he tells us he needs to go and then takes himself. It is so nice doing this when he can get himself on and off the toilet.

He did have a little bowel movement in his underwear and seems to resist doing those on the toilet and I am keeping my fingers crossed about not wetting the bed tonight. he do still have a few hurdles to jump but the prognostic so far is looking just fine and dandy. We are SOO happy he didn't decide to dig his very opinionated, three year-old heels in about it (knock on wood).

Hopefully after this weekend, we will have a completely toilet trained toddler.

Poor Neglected Dallas

Last night, about 8:30pm, thirty minutes after Dallas' extremely loose "bedtime", Dallas wanted to play a game called Barnyard Bingo.

I didn't want to play with him (trying to unwind from work you know... and I was enjoying my time on the computer). Cam wasn't playing with him either, so we had Dallas go ask Jadon. Jadon was going to bed and therefore did not want to play as well.

What is a poor Dallas to do? He has Barnyard Bingo all out and ready as he sits by himself in the middle of the family room... just looking at it...

Until Dallas finds a friend.

Dallas picked up his Buzz Lightyear and asked, "Buzz you pay games wit me?" Buzz (or Dallas talking for Buzz) answered, "Yeah."

Dallas was so estatic. "Yay! Buzz you said yeah! Ok Buzz your turn." he said as he helped Buzz Lightyear take his turn by picking up a game piece. "Buzz you got boo tow (blue cow). Ok Buzz eye (my) turn." Dallas picked up his own game piece. "Buzz I got welwo iken (yellow chicken)."

Apparently playing for two is tiring, though, for that is all the farther Dallas made through his game with Buzz last night.

Part of me felt HORRIBLE for not playing with him (especially when he started playing with Buzz) but another part thought that this playing pretend would be good for him (and he did an awesome job taking turns!)

However thinking about it again this morning, I am a horrible mother and I could have played one, five-minute game with him...

Moral of the story: put your kids to bed on time.

Dallas and Books

Dallas has always been a go-go-go sort of child. Even when he was little(r) he wanted to be down on the floor moving, not held and cuddled. He started rolling over, crawling, and walking fairly early. In fact his speech delay could probably be fully attributed to his lack of slowing down. He wouldn't sit still and watch us when we talked to him, he wasn't figuring out how to make the sounds with his mouth (plus the signing - talking by moving - was right up his alley).

Now-a-days he is still a go-er and do-er with one exception: books. He really loves books. And he sits still to look at them. Naptime and bedtime, better known as "quiet time" around these parts, always includes books for Dallas to look at, and often me reading to him as well. His taste is leaning towards longer and longer books.

The other day I read him Pooh's Heffalump Movie Book word-for-word and asked him questions about the pictures ("Who is hiding?" "How is Tigger feeling?") making the book take close to fifteen minutes. He wasn't the slightest bit ansy, even at the end. If you have had the pleasure of experiencing Dallas first-hand, you know him sitting still that long is a pretty big deal.

I hope when I check on him at night in the future I will be greeted by more scenes like this.

The English Language

Dallas has been going through a contrary phase for, well, ever. With his increasing verbal skills his protests to "Dallas please help me" have gone from "no" to "no mommy" to "no help me, mommy" (the "no help me, mommy" is him negating what I ask him to do... he isn't asking for me to help him instead).

This morning, before breakfast, we were cleaning up last night's mess (Dallas had a bit of a melt down on the way to bed last night, so not much cleaning got done). I asked Dallas to help me, par always, and got the, "No help me, mommy. No help me. No help... you. No help you, mommy."

At least he is using proper pronouns when he protests now...

Chelane, on the other hand, is a helper. She love to put things "in," many people mistake this for loving to clean-up, which she doesn't always want to do.

However yesterday, with Dallas being contrary, I asked him to put his blanket, which was out in the family room, on his bed. Dallas refused and walked away. Exasperated, I turned to Chelane and said, "Chelane can you go put Dallas' blanket on his bed?" and she did. I will admit I was not expecting it. This morning Chelane also put her binkie and stuffed Nemo fish back in her crib on the first request.

I am amazed at her receptive comprehension and of her willingness to obey. Please tell me this isn't just a phase.

New Things in the Last Week or So...

I was talking to my sister in-law and part of the conversation went something like this:

Me: "Well I will still be working those three days before Christmas so it would be nice to be close to home."
Sister in-law: "Wait, you have a job?"
Me: "Yeah I got it pretty suddenly about a week ago..."

At that moment it dawned on me that no one (expect the people I live with and the recipient of that phone conversation) know my happy news about no longer being unemployed. The job is at Mathnasium (you can google it if you are curious) which is a math-only tutoring place. I went in for an interview that turned into a math competency test, an interview, and some tutoring practice (the half hour I was planning on turned into nearly two). I got a call a little over a week later asking if I could start that day. That was last Tuesday.

The job is fun but the pay isn't stellar. However, I get raises as I finish their training program and as they see progress in my abilities. Hopefully that will be a pretty big raise, but if not the people I work with are fun, the job is enjoyable, it will look good on my resume, the hours work well with Cam's class schedule, and it is five minutes from home. And it is some financial stability so I am not stressed which Cam appreciates.

Now the more exciting stuff:

In the last week Chelane passed the line of "preferring to crawl" over into "preferring to walk." She can be seem waddling everywhere she goes now, rarely resorting to crawling.

In the last week or so she has reminded us that she is on her way to being two; vehemently expressing her opinions and complaining when things aren't to her liking; I am already worrying about her as a teenager.

Since Monday she has insisted on drinking liquids from a cup without aid of a sippy-top, straw, or a mommy/daddy helping out. Yep, she takes the cup from you puts it to her own mouth, tilts it by herself, and drinks. She gets quite annoyed with you if you try to help her. Cam and I are a little floored by this since she seems to be on par with Dallas' mastery of this skill.

In the last week she has increased her signs from one (her hand moving to her mouth to mean "drink", "food", and/or "binki") to "food/eat", "drink", "please", and "more". She is putting a "buh" sound with waving bye-bye.

Dallas said, "Mom watch this" to me at lunch and proceeded to do some silly dance while shaking his head. He is talking more and more; attempting more and more words and repeating things he hears you say.

We tried playing a memory-type game with him a few weeks ago. He caught onto the order you turn things over in and how to wait and take turns. Playing games is now when of his favorite things to do.

Shoe Shopping

We went shoe shopping today mainly for me and Chelane, but Dallas got a pair of the next size up too. We needed to find some type of shoe Chelane couldn't just pull off her foot willy-nilly like all the other cute Mary-Jane-type shoes we tried in the past, and we found some really cute, gender-neutral, black, converse-y like high tops.

My eyes were pulled to some girly - but not too girly - brown dress shoes; and I decided black converses wouldn't be so appropriate for church, no matter what Karma may say to the contrary. So I tried them on Chelane's foot. Chelane regarded the beige sandal-like shoes with no apparent interest and immediately pulled some shiny, black, slightly-heeled, strap-around-the-ankle dress shoes (in her size) off the shelf and handed them to me. She watched as I put them on and giggled in delight seeing them on her feet.

I had to go talk to Dallas about his shoes and left Cam to finish with Chelane. Cam and I talked back and forth down the aisle; we agreed we should get the brown shoes: they would stay on better, wouldn't show scuffs as easily, and I thought they would match more. Well they cost the same so Cam and I decided to let Chelane choose. She chose the shiny, patent black shoes... twice.

I took her with me to my area of the shoe store where she started pulling out shiny red shoes. Apparently I had a real girl with a shoe fetish and all.

Miss Independent

Chelane has started waving her arms frantically around after a only a few spoonfuls of food, inevitably hitting the spoon and sending food flying onto her tray and face. The frustrating thing is that she is isn't doing this because she is full, oh no, on the contrary she is still hungry. Someone is starting to not want to be fed anymore (or at least that is my diagnosis).

So, Cam and I decided to stop fighting it. Last night for dinner and this morning for breakfast Chelane has fed herself finger food. She seems to enjoy doing things herself. We set up Dallas and Chelane's chairs right next to each other as well to encourage Dallas to share.

Last night dinner consisted of some cut up canned pears, peas, half a cheese stick, and cheerios. Normally we give Dallas his peas frozen but, since his sister was trying solid peas for the first time (and she only has two and a half teeth), we heated the peas to room temperature. Chelane decided she really liked peas. She has the cutest little pincer grasp and shoveles those peas right in.

Cam and I discovered Dallas should only be fed frozen peas. He discovered how far you can launch the insides of peas by pinching their shells... he almost shot one into the living room.

Escapades in Solid Food

This first picture has nothing to do with food or eating, but it had been sitting on the camera for a while. Back in March or April Dallas grabbed the witch hat that was in the dress-ups and put it on Chelane. It was very cute and Chelane had a ball trying to take the hat off or re-position it on her head. Plus the outfit fits perfectly. I am not sure why she was wearing the purple striped onsie and dark blue leg-warmers... blame it on Daddy.


These next pictures were taken just today. While Chelane only has two bottom teeth she handles solid food admirably. She has no problem with graham crackers or cheerios and, since a lot of her baby food has been fruit or vegetables mashed with a fork, she has had a steep learning curve.

Today I got home from work and she was just waking up. She had fallen asleep before lunch and hadn't had her second solid food meal yet. You could tell. She was pretty whiney. I decided to get her a banana. While I was getting the banana ready I was also trying to get Dallas ready to go outside and failing to convince Jadon to go outside with Dallas, so Chelane got a few crackers while she was waiting... then a few more. I think she ended up eating an entire graham cracker before her bananas were ready.

I only mushed up half a banana at first. She gobbled it down. I didn't particularly feel like mushing up the other half and feeding it to Chelane, plus I had other things I needed to get to, so I broke up part of the remaining banana (have you ever noticed that bananas naturally break into thirds?) and put it on her tray thinking "that will keep you busy for a while." It didn't. It was only three pieces the first time so I broke up the rest of the banana (about nine pieces) and left her again. Before I knew it she was done again with banana evidence all over her face.

You can't see much on this first one, but it shows Chelane with her "normal" coloring. Once I got closer to Chelane the pictures became really yellow/orange. Don't worry it is just the camera, she does not hace jundice.


You can see the mushy banana pieces. The things that look like they are sores or zits for something are graham cracker remenants.


Such a happy face. A little drooly. And you have to love that banana on her onsie...


I think this one is my favorite. You can't see much of the mess but she is SOOOO cute (but I am bias, I know).


Cam has also imformed me that she is getting into crawling positions! She is growing up so fast!

Teeth

I am being very creative with my blog post titles lately. I am also trying this new thing with colors a bit, instead of using paraenthesis everywhere, to seperate my thoughts. Let me know if it works for you or is more confusing.

Well we were wondering what was up with Chelane's mouth. Not really. Dallas teethed at three months, getting his bottom two teeth. I know that is pretty rediculously early. He had eight teeth before he was one. He never seemed to complain about teething; apparently growing teeth and jamming them through his gums came very naturally to him.

So when Chelane was going on six, then seven, now eight months without a bite nor pinch of a tooth I was starting to wonder if she even developed teeth again not really... much. She has decided to make up for it this weekend. Chelane finally seems to have teeth breaking through and it is confirmed today that is it not only one tooth but BOTH bottom teeth. I thought there may have been a top tooth coming through as well, which would have really impressed me, but it is just the two bottom teeth. We are hoping we are reaching the end of the runny nose since the teeth are breaking through.

Speech

After all the worries about Dallas not talking he is finally seeing a speech therapist once a week. It seems to be helping, the kid is babbling now (which is not something we ever heard him do), and we can get him to copy most sounds we make (he wouldn't use to do that either). However he is still having problems blending sounds (I can get him to say "pah-ee-sah" but not "'pees" (trying to be "please")) and there are some sounds that still seem to be beyond him ('n' and 'l' are difficult); so we take any milestone when we can get it. And here is another one! Dallas is now saying two word sentances!

Ok it is really only two, two-word sentances... but he says them over and over...

They are "No Mom" which was closly followed by (can you guess) "No Dad."

Aren't we lucky?

Old

Today is Cameron's 27th birthday. Be sure to congratulate him of his old age and subsequent impending death! All joking aside (or at least a good deal of it) I don't express thankfulness or praise to the man I love enough - especially not in the blogging world - and his birthday seems the best day to do just that!

Cam and I met through mutual friends. There were 3 guys sharing an apartment. I knew one of them, Cam knew a different one. We both had gone to many potluck dinners (these roomies did this every Tuesday night during college) without talking or interacting much. One of these Tuesdays happened to be the birthday celebration for a brother of the girlfriend of the roommate (everyone follow that?) neither Cam or I knew. Our usual intimate Tuesday night of 6-8 people had more than doubled (mostly by theater majors), leaving little room in the small apartment. When the couch was moved back to allow for more room to open presents I found myself sitting close to Cam. Halo 2 had just come out and I was expressing my excitement to play it sometime when Cam cut in the conversation - his roommate had just bought Halo 2.

I had no car in those days so I relied on the favor of my other friend (and Tuesday night dinner goer), Breton, to pick me up and drop me off. That night I left with Cam instead to go check out Halo 2. When he dropped me off at the condo I was living in and drove away, I kicked myself for not giving him my number or inviting him in. I hadn't thought he was anything special all those other Tuesdays I had seen him, but after getting to know him a bit I was sad to see him leave so quickly.

Well anyway, that Friday I came back to Washington for Thanksgiving. Cam called his friend who asked my friend my phone number and got in touch with me. We talked for a few hours every day for the week I was in Washington planned to go out to a movie the day I got back. We were married six months later.

Cam jokes that Halo 2 brought us together. In all seriousness our shared interest of computer games, video games, fantasy, and sci-fi (books and shows) gives us a lot to talk about and common activities to participate in.

The thing I love most about Cam is his very laid-back personality. One of the first things I fell in love with was his positive disposition. This man is ALWAYS happy. He loves to joke, play, tickle, cuddle, and laugh. I don't always appreciate what such an upbeat mood does for us. He makes me a happier person.

Coming is a close second (not really) is his sexy calves.

I am constantly surprised by what I am still learning about him. Every so often a new, hidden talent is brought to light. He can build houses ("everything but pouring the foundation and wiring - my dad always did that part, but I am sure I could figure it out"), he grew up hunting, he was teased in school, he can do math quicker (and better) than me in his head, he is a mama's boy. His love and respect for his mother is very endearing (and dare I say, attractive). He doesn't disclose all his talent's readily because he doesn't like being judged on what he knows, he would rather be judged for who he is.

He is honest, trusting, positive, hard-working, supportive and a wonderful father to his children. He dotes on Chelane to no end. I really would be an uptight stick-in-the-mud if it weren't for him. He puts up with my constant worrying and all-too-often criticism. I don't tell him I love him enough.

Well, here is to you, Cam, on your 27th birthday! I love you to no end and look forward to many more years together. As long as I am with you I don't care where life takes us.

Five Months?

Chelane is rapidly approaching her five month mark.


She rolls over. She hasn't mastered back to front, but she twists off her belly to either side with ease and expertise. She has discovered and uses her hands to a level I didn't know was possible for a small baby.* Chelane is also going through the cute stage of making loud, obnoxious, ear splitting, concentration-destroying, cute sounds. I know I have mentioned it before but she is also wearing 6-9 month clothes (and they fit now without drowning her at all).

She is so happy and getting so big but I am worried about her this month. She was born September 30th... so when exactly does she become five months old?...


*my past experience and knowledge is limited to Dallas, who at this age was: rolling, starting to sit up, bouncing for endless hours in his bouncer and had two teeth; but had no interest in sitting still and manipulating objects with his hands

Rolling, Baby Clothes, and Leap Years

Saturday evening I was in Dallas' room making his bed and getting everything ready for him to sleep. Chelane, Dallas, and Cam were in the family room (just down the hall). Chelane was crying because it was her tummy time. She has no problem being on her stomach as long as it isn't for longer than a minute or two. She had been on her stomach for a while now with us coaxing her to roll over. Cam started yellng to me that Chelane had rolled over, I rushed out and immediatly and put Chelane back on her tummy. She wasn't too thrilled about that but did humor me enough to roll over again. She has stubbornly insisted on not rolling over since.

Also Chelane is now wearing 6-9 month onsies and sleepers. I also had to put her in a 6-9 month dress for church on Sunday, her 3-6 ones are just too small now. Yes, she was born September 30th, she is only four months old (plus a week or two). My little baby is getting so big. Thede larger clothes are drowning her as far as width goes, she really only needs the length.

On an entirely different note, last night at dinner Mom was asking about Friday the 13th birthdays (the question hd stemmed from the observation that we will have two Friday the 13th's this year). I knew I as born on a Tuesday (don't know why I have remembered that, but there you go) so we started counting around years and days of the week (it sure makes it easy knowing that a day moves forward one day of the week each year... I wonder why that is). I calculated that my birthday this year is on a thursday, so my 25th birthday (next year) will be on Friday the 13th. It also seems that my 75th birthday will be as well... So I am wondering if it will be on a 50 year cycle. If that is true then since my Friday the 13th birthdays so far have been turing 8 and 14, it should also happen at 64 and 58... however, I haven't tested this hypothesis yet...