Our Lil' Kiddz: 2007

Has it been a year?

I really am overdue for a post on the kids and my apologies to everyone who stops by. We've had quiet the busy summer as most of you know. We have recuperated from our trip to Florida well. We've found ourselves keeping busy since our return home.

Merci is now 10 1/2 months old and will have her first birthday next month. It is so very hard to believe she is going to be one. She has 6 teeth now and has the 7th trying to come through. She has been standing for quiet some time and "cruises" but hasn't taken any steps yet. She keeps her own when it comes to Camden and does not let him get away with much. Everywhere he goes, she wants to be right there too. No one can make her laugh like her brother and I love to see them interact.

Camden is doing great as well. He is going to be 4 in just a couple of months and just as with Merci it is so hard to believe. He is getting so tall and is just so darn smart. We are planning on starting to do real school work this fall, focusing on the preschool work that he needs to know prior to kidnergarten (which we believe we are going to start next year). Though he will only be turning 5 next year we see where is further ahead in some area than with most kids his age. We will not force him if he is not ready, but with homeschooling we have the choice to start him early if we believe he is ready. We will take it one day at a time but I am looking forward to starting the home school work this year (even if it is just preschool).

Though this is just a short post, I wanted to make sure I gave at least a small update. I hope to find a little more time soon to post more pictures and more details on how the kids have been. They are amazing as always and we are so very blessed to have them as our children.

Our love to you all until next time.

Some Much Awaited Photos...ENJOY!!

Suprise!! I Finally Posted!

I have fallen sooo far behind in my updates. My apologies. Things have been pretty crazy around these parts. My lack of posting is mainly due to the fact the my computer was out of commission for about a month or so. I have since gotten it back and hope to get back to regular updates.

The kids are doing amazing! I shall start with Camden...

Our little man is becoming just that. Each week we look at him and think he looks more and more like such a big boy. It is so hard to fathom the thought that he will be turning four later this year. He is such a character and loves to make us all laugh. His latest "thing" is to act out all of American Idol for anyone willing to listen. He picks different people to be the judges and he goes back and forth between being the host Ryan Seacrest and one of the contestants...he, himself, of course then sings. The usual song is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Sometimes he sings it like a ballad and other times in his "rock" version. It is quite funny.

He has recently just gotten over an ear infection that landed him in the emergency room. I didn't want to take him in but he was not acting himself and had gotten sick two mornings in a row. The second morning he threw up his water and that concerned me. He didn't want to drink anything and refused to even try. Out of fear of dehydration, Mike took him in while I stayed with the baby. We were glad to know it was just an ear infection (with a possible touch of a stomach bug). He has been is bouncy, vibrant self ever since. Through all of that, at his follow-up with our family Dr. we found out that he has grown two inches in the last year. He is now 33 inches tall (around 3 ft.) and weighs 31 1/2 pounds. He's grownin' like a weed.

Camden's mind is like a sponge, in turn, he wants to learn all the time. He is asking us to teach him how to spell things, how to tell time, and he loves to read books. Because of his wanting to learn, we are considering starting him in Kindergarten next year (when he is four about to turn five, rather than the next year when he would be five turning six). With homeschooling, it is nice that we have that option. If we do so and find that he is not ready than we will just hold back and wait. But with the way that he is learning now, we believe he will be more than ready. He already knows all his colors and shapes. He knows how to count to 30 with no assistance (he can even count to 10 in Spanish!). He knows his phone number and that he lives on Pembrook Rd. in Ohio. He recognizes all the letters of the alphabet both uppercase and lower case. He can even write the letters A, H, O, U, and I. Without wanting to sound as though I am bragging, I am really surprised at how much he knows. He simply wants to learn. I, nor Mike, have ever forced learning upon him. We just teach him as he asks or we see the opportunity. I am so very proud of him and I believe that if he continues to have this desire to learn that he will carry it over into his schooling. I can not wait to see!!

Well, now I'll try to update you on little Miss Merci...

Merci is doing amazing as well. She is growing so fast and it's so hard to believe she is almost 8 months old already!As of Merci's last Dr.'s appointment for her 6 month check-up (back in March) she is 15 pounds and 26 inches long. She is back up to the 50% for her weight and about the 75% for her length. Just after her visit to the Dr. her bottom two teeth broke through and the are so cute when she smiles!

Not too long after her teeth broke through she began scooting around on her belly on the floor. She is now up on all fours and is starting to get the hang of crawling. She still falls to her belly but I bet she will be crawling all over very soon. She tries her best to keep up with her brother.

I love to watch my two children interact with one another. Camden is so gentle and loving and he is always saying "Mama, Daddy...I love our baby." I know that he understands and means what he is saying. Merci giggles and laughs at her brother every time he simply comes near her. My hope is that they stay this close as they grow older. It truly is a precious thing.

Well, I would love to post more, but I am becoming quite tired. My days are full and finding time to post is difficult. I do have lots of pictures to put together in another slide show for ya'll. I hope to have that posted soon. Until then, I hope to keep you posted much more often. Our love to each of you.

Yes! I know...

I am so long overdue for a post. It has been so hard to find time to blog. It is amazing how we are home much of the time, but finding quiet time to just sit at my computer is much harder than I thought.

I have been working hard at getting the kids into more of a routine with naps and bedtime. Each day, as long as we are home, the kids are down for their naps by 1:00-2:00 p.m. Then in the evenings, we have been working to have them in bed by 9:00-9:30 p.m. Merci has been the hardest to get on the schedule. It has not been because she is not tired, but because it seems that she sleeps better when I put her down a little later. I was putting her to bed at 8:00-8:30 p.m. but it seemed she woke more by going down so early. Since being on this schedule she has only been waking on average one time and it is ALWAYS 45 minutes to an hour after laying her down. I haven't quite figured out why, except that during her last feeding she gets a little gasy. Other than that, she has been sleeping through the night from when she goes down until about 5:30 - 6:30 a.m. This is great. Camden has always been a good sleeper for us. He did have a few nights this past week where he woke up coughing and one night when he fell out of bed. Otherwise, he sleeps great. By 8:30 every morning, we are all up, fed, and ready for the day. I can not tell you what a sense of satifaction that brings!!

Camden is doing well. The hardest part of the cold and snow is keeping him occupied. Being stuck inside has gotten to him and he tends to get a little wild in the evenings. We've played lots of games and lots of pretend play. We will finally be going to Chuck-E-Cheese tomorrow to celebrate his potty training success. I hope that once the weather gets nicer we will be able to go out more and do more outside activities.

Miss Merci is about to cut her two bottom teeth. You can see the white buds all swollen and I am sure they are sore. She is a little fussy with them, but mostly just drools a TON! We have had to wear bibs on her all the time and she drentches them all the way down to her clothes. I will be glad, as will she, once those two teeth come through.

Well, speaking of Miss Merci, I hear her in the monitor awaking from her nap. I am going to have to close for now, but I will try to post again soon. Our love to all of you.

P.S.
I've got lots of pics to post, so be watching for they will be posted ASAP.

Like father, like son.

Like mother, like daughter.

How's It Grown'?

Wow, how quickly time goes by! It is so hard for me to believe that my son is almost 3 1/2 years old and that my baby girl is 4 months already. They are both doing great. Camden has recently just gotten over a cold that he, unfortunately, had gotten from me, his mama.

With all the bitter, cold weather that we have been having it has been a great challenge to find things that we can do inside to keep Camden busy. We have colored, played Play-Do, painted, played games, and celebrated a birthday. Yep, that's right. We had a birthday party for Camden's imaginary friend, Be-a-bee. Now, I wasn't so sure about this, seeing as I don't want to encourage him to be a loner. But he interacts with other kids great and loves to play with his friends. But he can't seem to do much of anything when he is at home alone without Be-a-bee. Well, Camden informed me the other day that it was Be-a-bee's birthday and that we should have a Scooby-Doo birthday for him. So, we printed out some coloring pages of Scooby and Camden colored them. He then helped mama make a cake and then decorate it. I put some candles in and we sang "Happy Birthday" to his special friend. Here is a little scrapbook page I put together of his party.

Camden's most recent achievement has been potty training. It was a totally crazy thing. He just woke up Monday morning, put on his big boy undies, and has been going every since. We have had a few accidents along the way, but all in all he is doing great! I still can not believe it. I actually called up my best friend who has two little ones in diapers and asked if she wanted a whole pack of diapers that haven't been opened. I just bought Camden's diapers last week, but I'm not too disappointed that we will not be using them. He is doing such an amazing job. Mommy bought him lots of special big boy undies yesterday as a little more incentive. He was so excited that he opened up the Scooby-Doo pack and put a pair on over the ones he already had on. What a cutie he is!

Little Miss Merci is doing amazing as well. She has discovered her voice this week and has been letting us know every day. She squeals with delight and laughs at her brother. It seems as though the newborn fussiness that we struggled with has subsided. She isn't as clingy and more of her personality is developing. We had a check-up with the Dr. earlier this month for her 4 month check-up. She is growing well, but she dropped a little on the weight chart. She had been in the 50% at her last well-visit. But at this one she dropped down to the 25%. The Dr. asked about her eating and how often she does. He then asked if I supplemented with formula at all. I have on occasion but on a regular basis I have not. So he recommended that I give her some formula each day to help fill her more. He wants me to continue to nurse her, but after feeding to offer a little formula and see how much she takes. In doing so since her appointment, she has taken to

the formula well. She still nurses really good, but has a little formula in between. At most, in one day, she has taken a total of 12 ounces. Most days she only takes 3 or 4 ounces total. But I'm following what the Dr. said and she seems like she has gained more weight. He also said that when I was ready I could start her on cereal. I tried once, but by about the third night of giving it only in the evenings, she became very gassy. I believe it was because we also started the regular bottles in the same week. I stopped giving the cereal until she adjusted to having formula like she has (which we switched to the soy based formula because I believe now that it was the formula that was making her gassy). I will try giving her cereal at some point again in the near future. She enjoyed eating the cereal when I did give it to her. She smacks her lips when she watches us eat and acts as though she wants what we are eating. So I think she's about ready. The Dr. also said once she's been on the cereal awhile to go ahead and introduce the fruits and veggies. She is getting to be such a big girl. It's still hard for me to believe she is even here, apart of our family. God is so good and we are constantly thanking Him for such an amazing family of our own. We truly are blessed!!

Well, speaking of the lil' ones. Miss Merci is getting cranky and is ready for her morning nap. Camden also, should be waking for the day. So I am going to close for now. We hope that this finds you all doing well, as we surely are. Our love to you.

Photos

As I have promised, I have posted some pictures of the kids for all of you. I have found a way to post mulitple pictures without doing so many indiviually. This way you can see lots! I hope you all enjoy.

| View Show | Create Your Own

Camden's Been Tagged!

Three things......
that scare me: the surround sound noise at the beginning of DVD's, the light on my DVD player, and having to eat something I don't like
people that make me laugh: Daddy, Grandpa, and my cousin Josh
I love: my family, my CareBear and Mickey I sleep with, and chocolate milk
I hate: having to eat something I don't like, walking into a dark theater, and when the doggy trys to eat my food
I don't understand: why mommy and daddy say no, why i don't get my own way, and why boogers taste so good
on my desk: how 'bout dresser? TV, DVD Player, and CD player
I'm doing right now: sleeping, dreaming, and drooling
I want to do before I die: Grow another 3 feet, learn to read, and go to Chuck E Cheese's
I can do well: talk in full sentences, sing my ABC's and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and be a big brother
you should always listen to: Your mommy and daddy, Grandma and Grandpa, and the doggy
you should never listen to: Barney, those creapy colored things that dance around and talk funny on PBS (TelaTubbies), and infomercials
I'd like to learn how to do: how to spell, read, and ride a bike
favorite foods: pizza, chicken nuggets, and french fries
beverages I drink regularly: chocolate milk, strawberry milk, and juice
TV shows I watched as a kid: Blue's Clues, Go Diego Go, and Tom and Jerry
books I read as a kid: Goodnight Moon, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and Noisey Friends

Camden now tags Daddy, Jackson, and Arielle

Quick Update

Well, after about 3 attempts at trying to upload pictures just to have my computer freeze, I've given up on trying to do some picture for ya'll. I guess I'll just have to give you a quick update on how the lil' ones are doing.

Christmas was great. Camden had a bit of a hard time understanding that it was not all about him like on his birthday. He thought that the whole day, all of every one's attention should be focused on him. Needless to say he got upset when we tried to control this in him. All in all though it was a great time for him. We bought him a little drum set for Christmas. He had been asking for months for drums. He absolutely loves it. Merci, of course, is too little to understand but she was as cute as ever. We all awoke Christmas morning and I made cinnamon rolls, like always. Mike and I drank our coffee while we sat on the floor and mainly watched Camden open all his presents. We then just spent the day home. It was enjoyable to spend time with our kids.

After the holiday rush, the stomach bug hit our family hard. It began with Michael and quickly spread not only through Camden down to Merci and I, but through all of our extended family that saw us that week. We have felt terrible that everyone has gotten sick. It was not a fun week to say the least, but this week has proven to be much better.

Camden is actually starting to spell. It sounds crazy, because he is only 3 years old, but I assure you it is true. He knows how to read the words; no, yes, and sit. We have flash cards with simple, first words on them and he is learning them already. It amazes me how much his mind retains. He truly is like a sponge.

Merci is now beginning to squeal and giggle. She is full of smiles all the time. I haven't quite gotten use to having a little one who is clingy. Camden was never clingy, but Merci tends to be when she gets fussy. Though I love it to some degree, it is defiantly a bit of a struggle at times during the day. She is also a little cat napper. This too is something new for me. But, all of that aside, we are adjusting to having two children quite well and they too are doing great.

I will try to post again ASAP and get some great pictures uploaded that I have taken. Until then, our love to you all.

This Creaky Old Chair

I wrote this poem one night last week while I was rocking my fussy little girl. I have this old, antique rocking chair that was given to my mother who in turn gave it to me when I got married. As I rocked her it just came to me. I am not a writer but yet this piece I am very proud of. I hope you enjoy

This creaky old chair is were we sit,

each time you start to cry.
We rock and we sway
and I sing in a way
that makes the time go by.

This creaky old chair is were we sit,
when I simply want to hold you.
I whisper a song
and we rock along
For this is what we do.

This creaky old chair is were we sit
and I think of how you are growing.
I shed a small tear,
Out of a mother's fear,
At how quickly the time is going.

This creaky old chair is were you'll sit
and rock your little ones too.
You'll sing and you'll sway,
And rock in a way.
Just like I did for you.
In this creaky old chair.

Our Lil' Kiddz

Overdue...AGAIN!

Fall