A Few Pictures

Thrush, thrush, go away! (Purple medicine)
Billy loves to be by Cameron. Cam was still half asleep.

CHUBBALICIOUS!

The boys hanging out.

Journaling

I used to be... not awesome, but pretty great about writing in a journal. Now, if I could even find my journal in our basement, I wouldn't be surprised if it hadn't been written in for a year. So I'm going to try out using the blog as a journal. Now I recognize that most of it won't necessarily be interesting to anyone but me, but at least I'll be documenting things I want to remember right?

First of all Cameron is at that very funny stage. He is always saying silly things. And, MAN, does he ever have a memory. I swear he remembers everything, even if he's only seen or heard it once. Which is great if it's educational, but frequently he remembers things I'm not that excited about. Here are some funny things he's said in the past few months I'd like to remember:

Shortly after Billy was born Cameron had no choice but to become more of a 'Daddy's Boy'. Commenting on it one day I said, "You're such a daddy's boy!" and he excitedly stated, "Yep! And you're Billy's boy!"

He frequently changes the names/nicknames he has for people. My new name is Mama-girl. Wes is called Weswee. My dad is Gramps. Also Cameron is asking to be called Gus. (Which is one of our dog's names.)

Cameron absolutely loves his cousins and regularly asks about them. However, he's been a little nervous about babies that crawl and hasn't been quite as interested in Will's and Isabelle's little brother Joey. (He walks now, so we'll see how it goes.) One night while praying he was thankful for Will, thankful for Isabelle, and then not being able to remember their little brother's name said, "and thankful for somebody else" and just kept on praying. He likes to say long prayers and will sometimes repeat everything 3 times just to keep it going.

I love how good Cameron is with Billy. He's quite observant with regard to Billy's needs and emotions. I was almost done getting ready this morning when I heard Billy fussing, and before I could get to him I heard Cameron say, "What's wrong Bud?" He's always referring to him as Bud and Buddy.

Cameron used to say he wanted to be a doctor when he grew up, but there were a few conditions. "I not give any shots though. Billy gives the shots. I take the temperatures."

He can't say the /v/ sound. It's a /b/ sound instead.

After waking from his afternoon naps, he always tells me good morning.

Gratitude

I feel the need to express a little gratitude about Motherhood. I was reading an article about the deaths of Natasha Richardson and Jade Moody, both mothers of young children, and it really hit a sensitive spot. Since I don't really know how to put a better link, here is the address http://www.newsweek.com/id/190782?GT1=43002.

I have been trying to keep on a happy face while Wes is out of town for most of the week, and trying to gear up because he's starting to travel much more. Earlier today and again when I was reading this article I realized number one, how lucky we are to have a steady income even if it requires travel, and number two, that I have two handsome, fun, intelligent, wonderful, rambunctious little boys to keep me insanely busy and help pass the time while Wes is away.

I definitely need to do better at focusing on the positive things in my life, instead of these minor inconveniences like having Dad gone.

Out of the mouths of Babes...

This is a cute idea I stole from Jenny's blog. The rules are, you copy this note, ask your child the questions and write them down exactly how they respond.

Cameron: 2 years 11 months
*He had just woke up from his nap, and was pretty irritated with the questions by the end, but here they are anyway.

1. What is something dad always says to you? No way!
2. What makes dad happy? ME!!! (while forcefully pointing to his chest)
3. What makes dad sad? Daddy don't get sad, just happy!
4. How does your dad make you laugh? Don't really know.
5. What was your dad like as a child? He would clap his hands. Yep clap his hands w/ his teacher.
6. How old is your dad? 2
7. How tall is your dad? Bigger than me and STRONG!
8. What is his favorite thing to do? Work
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? Work
10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? (He didn't really get this one)
11. What is your dad really good at? Work
12. What is your dad not very good at? Being a swiper
13. What does your dad do for his job? Works for money
14. What's your dad's favorite food? Basketti (This is Cam's favorite, Wes really dislikes it)
15. What makes you proud of your dad? Poop (We kept telling Cam we were proud as he was being potty-trained)
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? Diego
17. What do you and your dad do together? Shoot some deers, play with Kate and Gus
18. How are you and your dad the same? Both boys
19. How are you and your dad different? (He couldn't come up with anything.) He thinks they're exactly the same. Or at least wants to be.
20. How do you know your dad loves you? hugs, kisses, and plays bouncy ball game
21. Where is your dad's favorite place to go? Work make money

Now I must add that Wes isn't obsessed with work, but Cameron is truly devastated everyday when Wes leaves. Even if he's asleep when he leaves we have the following conversation almost daily:

C: "Where's Dad?"
M: "Work"
C: tearing up "But I don't want him to go to work."
M: "I know, but he has to go to work."

repeat 3 - 5 times

C: "Why?"
M: "He has to go to work to make money so we can have food and clothes and a house."
C: "But I don't want him to go to work!"

repeat

Finally I or we distract him with something else, and a promise that Dad will be back later to play with him.

Timing

I'm not a super scheduled person, so when I have to be scheduled, it's a little difficult for me. I like to try to be organized, but I'm not great about things like having naps and bedtimes at the exact time each day. Maybe it's because I'm slightly lazy, okay...mostly because I'm lazy, but I also want my kids to be able to go with the flow and not 'lose it' when there is a schedule change. I definitely need to be more scheduled, however I'm 'scheduled out'.

Shortly after my January post, Wes had shoulder surgery to repair a failed previous surgery. Cameron was nearly potty-trained months ago, but I let it go when I was nearing the end of the pregnancy, and for some strange reason I decided to finish up about 2 weeks before Wes' surgery. The week following Wes' surgery went something like this:
Give Wes medicine, get Cameron and Wes food, take Cam to the bathroom, feed Billy, change Billy, take Cam to the bathroom, give Wes medicine, feed Wes and Cam...then repeat each day for 7 days.
I've never been so frazzled in my life, and am so thankful for living so close to our families. They totally saved me! Wes thought he would return to work after only 3 1/2 days, but it was difficult when he returned a full week later. Luckily everything is settling down. Wes is feeling much better, and Cameron was so easy to finish potty-training. I guess it's nice because what used to seem crazy now seems much more simple. I guess it was a blessing in disguise.

Don't forget to look at the post below with all the pictures. Billy is growing and changing so much. He was just blessed and also had his 2 month doctor's appointment. He and Cam are similar in height, but Billy is way ahead in his weight percentiles. He's getting cute rolls on his thighs and I'm in love with his chubby cheeks! Life is good.

WARNING! Picture Overload!

This post is long overdue, so sorry for such an extreme picture overload. For some reason...actually I know the reason...I've not made time to post lately. I still manage to browse other's blogs, but am too lazy to log in and comment. I've had some sort of aversion to blogging. Here is my attempt to get over it. Pictures for now. Mostly of Billy, but a few of Cameron. I'll write more later.