Sick baby!!!

Well Cameron is sick for the first time, and it is pitiful! I hate it! I wish more than anything I could take his sickness away from him. I took him to the doctor yesterday and he has an ear and a sinus infection. He has gotten worse today, but the doctor says to give the antibiotics 24 hours to work. Until then we are trying to keep him comfortable and clear his little head up, but we feel so helpless. He has lost his little voice, so he says "dada" over and over with his little hoarse voice and it is enough to make you cry. I finally sat in the bathroom with him watching baby einstein this afternoon to get his nose clear. After tylenol, antibiotics and a bottle he fell asleep watching Dora. I held him while he slept for an hour to ensure he FINALLY got a nap in, and I went to lay him down. He is still sleeping for now, but I can hear his little stuffed up nose breathing on the monitor. I hope this passes soon and we get our little happy man back. The doctor said yesterday that he is a really good baby, because he was smiling and being sweet even though he had to have felt terrible. Today he hasn't tried so hard to be nice, but who can blame him? I hope we will all be back to normal soon!

6 months! Really?!?!?!

Cameron hit the 6 month mark this past week. I realized it when I was at work and wrote the date for the first time. Then I spent most of the day thinking back to when he was born. I can't believe we have already had half of a year with him. I can't believe that now he is technically closer to being 1 year old than he is to this actually birth. It is amazing to see how much he has changed. He continues to be more fun everyday. It is impossible to go out to eat now without attracting the attention of everyone around us. We have become the entertainment. Our little man puts on quite a show. He can sit in a highchair, and likes to squeal quite loudly now. Very rarely do we get through a meal without him grabbing something off the table that he shouldn't get. The most exciting incident was earlier this week at Moe's. He grabbed Casey's glass of ice water and pulled it over into his lap. I think he was the only one there who didn't find it hilarious. He is into EVERYTHING. He gets in his walker and gets around the house. He wants to touch everything and if it is small enough put it in his mouth. He is trying to scoot and can sit up now all by himself. He can't get there alone, but once you sit him up he can stay there. It is cute! I just can't believe what a big boy he is. He loves his Daddy and Mommy. Bedtime is still an issue. For some reaon he doesn't sleep great lately. Some nights he goes to bed between 8 and 9 but usually gets up at some point and stays up for a while, OR he doesn't go to bed until almost 11 and sleeps all night. We don't know what to do. Anyway I am attaching a few videos of him to show you how much trouble he has started to get into. He is too cute! Also I am putting my up new favorite pic of him and his Daddy. They are best buds!

24 weeks!

It is amazing to me to think Cam turned 24 weeks old this past week. I can remember every detail of his birth so vividly and still think about it all the time. I remember the first few days, and when I look back at pictures I can't believe how much he has changed and grown. Just a few major things...he eats so much now! He eats twice a day, and he loves peas, bananas, applesauce, sweet potatoes, and squash. He likes carrots, pears, and peaches, and he hates greenbeans. He is so funny when he eats. He wants to try to help you, and if you aren't getting the food to his mouth fast enough- he lets you know. He talks ALL the time and is hillarious. He has now learned dada, and it is about all he says- over and over. I'm not convinced he knows who "dada" is because he yells it whether Casey is around or not, but all the same it is a sweet, sweet sound. We are working on mama, and even if he doesn't make the connection and I am mama I will probably cry the first time he says it. :)
He loves outside still. He still hates car rides and his car seat. Some days he hates them more than others. He like a stroller when he isn't tired or hungry.
He is now putting himself to sleep. That is really the only way he goes to sleep. We can try to walk with him and rock him like we use to, but he doesn't go to sleep. He will still go to sleep with his bottle at night and that is when we get our cuddling and loving in. He is such a sweet baby and so so happy. I am attaching a video below of his new favorite word.

Much needed update...

Well I have to say I am disappointed in myself. I had really intended to be a faithful blogger, but things have not worked out that way. I have just gotten SO busy living and enjoying life that I forget to write about it. I really hoped that one day I would be able to print out all of these blogs and use them as a baby book of sorts, but I realize now there isn't much to share. I am sad, because Cameron is growing so fast, but I just can't find the time. It is amazing how fast everything goes. I LOVE my life right now though, and my baby is the most perfect thing ever created. He is so much fun and changes He is hillarious eating. You can't get it to him fast enough, and he definitely lets you know. His favorite thing in the world right now is his jump and go. He will stay in it for hours somedays. Yesterday he jumped for an hour and 15 minutes straight. He laughs and laughs. I finally took him out because I thought he needed a break. His daddy insists he is already working on his vertical so he can be a good basketball player. I'm not sure, but either way it is REALLY cute! Apparently he really like Winnie the Pooh and Dora. It is part of his morning routine at Ms. Rachel's. I have not experienced this since they don't come on during the weekends, but this is what I hear. He has a stuffed animal that he loves, George the Monkey. He has become the trick for a happy car ride. He will usually just hold George and talk to him while in the car, which is a good change from the screaming he use to do. He is trying very hard to sit up now. You can't leave him anywhere, which we unfortunately found out this weekend. Until now it wasn't necessary to strap him in his boppy seat, but now he will sit up and fall out. Luckily he was on the floor when he broke out this new trick so he didn't hurt himself, but it scared us! He puts himself to sleep now. It is too cute. He usually whines a little bit, less than a minute, and will then talk to himself until he goes on out. This whole process usually lasts less thatn 3-4 minutes. Lastly and the most exciting news is he cut his first tooth yesterday (Sept. 27th). He had been obviously beginning to cut them. You could feel the raised place in his gums and he was chewing on everything. Last night in the car he was chewing and I put my finger in to feel and there was a little corner coming up. He has done surpising good with it. He was waking up a lot during the night, but the doctor said to give him tylenol before bed and if needed rub baby orajel on his gums, and that has done the trick. I can't believe he is over 5 months already. It is surreal feeling and so strange. It seems like it hasn't been that long, yet I don't really remember much about how it was before him. He is amazing and we are having such a good time with him. Everyone that meets him or sees him talks about how lucky we are to have such a happy baby. He smiles at everyone and puts on a show. They (whoever they is) say that you can tell their disposition by now, and if you can, we will have our hands full. I'm just happy he is such a content and happy boy. He is always fun. Ok I hope I do a better job with this blogging thing. We will see!

Back to Work...

I haven't posted much lately and there is so much that Cameron is doing. He is so big and independent. He wants to try to sit up all the time. He thinks he is too big to lay down like a baby now. He is aware of his surrounds and he looks at everything. You can put him in his boppy bouncy seat now and he will stay there all day if you talk to him. This is great because I can sit in the floor with him and work on stuff for heading back to work. I have such mixed feelings about returning to work. I have always said that being a stay-at-home mom isn't for me, but there were many times this summer when I thought that was exactly what I would become. We did so much thinking and praying and we finally found Rachel. She lives in the neighborhood next to us. Her husband is the youth pastor at Laura's church and she is going to come stay with Cam everyday while we are at school. I felt so much relief when we got this set up. Cameron will still have one on one attention, and I can go to work and focus on my students knowing my baby is being taken care of. I trust Rachel and know she will do an amazing job, but as the time drawers nearer I am beginning to get sad. I have missed teaching. I really love my job, and I missed going to work everyday and seeing my students. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness as I rocked him tonight. I looked down and saw my sweet, beautiful, perfect little man and realized that I would no longer be with him all day. From day 1 I have been here to provide everything for him, and that is not going to be my job anymore. Well it will always be my job, but there will be someone else who does it too and that makes me a little sad. I have had the most amazing time being able to be at home with him all this time. I am so lucky because most moms get 6 weeks, and I got 15. It has been such a blessing and time I will cherish forever. I am so blessed and I love him so much.

2 Month Checkup

We took Cameron for his 2 month checkup today. It was a little late because we had to reschedule since we were out of town on the original date. It was terrible, but we all survived! It was so sad and he screamed and cried, but it was only temporary. It was time to eat so a bottle made everything right with the world again. He is a BIG boy! He weighed 14 pounds and 6 ounces and was 24 3/4 inches long. That put him in the 90th percentile for both...Casey was so proud! Besides that we have started adding some rice cereal for his reflux and we get to take him off of his colic medicine. Here is a picture of him happy on the way to the doctor and his boo boos!

Happy 4th of July

We spent 4th of July at Lake Sin Claire with Casey's family. We had a good time and Cameron had his first lake experience. He LOVED it! Bebe bought him a little baby pool and he had fun with it, but really liked the lake. We were so suprised that he didn't get scared or cry. It was like he had been doing it his whole life. He floated around and kicked and splashed and looked ADORABLE in his lifejacket. He also really enjoyed the boat. It put him to sleep quickly after all of his swimming. The fireworks didn't scare him too bad. Overall it was a really good trip. On another note, Cameron is scooting like crazy. He smiles ALL the time and "talks" so much. He makes all sorts of noises and tries so hard to communicate. He has found his hands and stares at them and then shoves them and anything else in his mouth. He is drooling everywhere, but we don't care! His spit up gets better and worse. Some feedings there is none, and other feedings you wonder how he is still full. I just keep remembering he is gaining weight and this is temporary. Speaking of weight...we visited Aunt Abbey at her office when we were in Covington and Cameron weighed 13 pounds and 13 ounces!!! BIG BOY! We go to our doctor tomorrow for shots! :( I'm really dreading it, but I know we have to do it. I'll let you know how it goes. Here are some pics of the 4th. He is adorable!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, June 30th

Casey and I went to New York City for two days to celebrate our anniversary. We packed so much in our short 2 days, but we didn't want to be away from our baby any longer than that! It was so much fun, but we missed Cameron terribly. He stayed with my parents who took great care of him, but we still missed him! Cameron and I actually went down early to stay in Covington for a while because Casey had basketball camp. It was a good time to spend time with my family and let them spend time with Cameron. Since we live farther away it is difficult for them to see him as much as they would like so it was fun. We got to visit Nanny and Pop and Abbey and Bryan came over everyday. Mom and Dad got to see him whenever they wanted, and I think everyone really enjoyed this time. I'm going to post a few pictures of the amazing city of New York.

Little Scooter...

Our little man is getting too big too quick! I know this looks painful, but my sister says he needs tummy time, and this is what he does when we lay him down. He can also get up on his knees and elbows already, but then doesn't know what to do so he lays back down. We have yet to get a picture of this, but it seems like he might start crawling early...who knows? Anyway this is a little video of him scooting across his play gym. He's such a strong boy! :)

2 months old!

Well we have survived the first 2 months, and while they have been hard they have been so much fun! Cameron is such an amazing little boy. He is developing so much and changing everyday. He plays, smiles, sleeps in his big crib in his own room. He tries to hard to hold his head up. He lays on his belly and scoots! We both think he is too little, but he does it anyway! We are so blessed to have this perfect little baby, although he isn't so little anymore. He is an armful now! I don't have much more to add, but I am posting some pictures from his "2 month birthday!" He is TOO cute! :)

Cameron's room- No Vacancy!

My child has slept with me everynight for practically the past year, or at least since he was conceived. For 9 1/2 months, he slept in my belly. I took him to bed with me everynight. There was a comfort in knowing he was there and safe. Nothing could happen to him without me being aware of it. Then once he was born and we came home, for the first month he slept on my chest (I know, shame on me!). It was the only place he would sleep. I would lay him down and he would cry and so we slept, everynight on the couch, him and me. After the first month he began to sleep in his co-sleeper crib. It is a small bed that is attached to our bed. You get the benefits of the baby being in the bed without the dangers. You can't roll over on them or smother them accidently, but you can see them and touch them or get them within seconds once they begin to cry. I could roll over and see him, hear him breathing, and touch him. Tonight however Cameron is in his big crib, in his own room. It started this morning. He was ready for a nap and Casey was still in the bed. I am trying to let him put himself to sleep with a LITTLE crying before I step in, and I didn't want him to wake up Casey. I put him down in his big crib, and he was fine. So by this afternoon we were moving the monitors into his room so he could begin sleeping in there. His big crib is much more comfortable, and he was starting to outgrow the mini co-sleeper anyway. He is obviously ok with this move, because he has been asleep since 8. I got him at 10, gave him a bottle and his medicine and laid him back down. He has stayed asleep ever since. But me, it is 11:40 and I'm not ok with it. We have the movement sensor monitor on Casey's night stand and the video monitor on my night stand, and still I can't sleep. I keep sneaking in his room to look at him and watch him sleep. As I got in the bed I looked at the empty co-sleeper and felt sad. My baby boy made his first step to growing up, and I am not ready. I honestly feel like going to get him, laying him on my chest, and sleeping with him on the couch like I did his first night home. I could have never imagined the connection I would feel to this little man. My whole world revolves around him and I am ok with that. I want the very best for him and nothing less. I want to make all the right decisions and do what is necessary to make him strong and successful...I guess sleeping in his own room is a start. I don't know many strong and successful men that sleep in their parents' room, but I just wasn't ready. He is though, so I will go peak at him one more time, rub his sweet, perfect little head, and hopefully fall asleep, although it may be a long night of watching the monitor!

Father's Day

This past weekend Casey got to celebrate his first Father's day. It was very special. Cameron is VERY unpredictable in his car seat. Sometimes he tolerates it, sometimes he sleeps, but USUALLY he screams. In an effort to avoid this we left for Covington Saturday night around 10 when he went to sleep for the night. Naps are hit and miss lately. He use to be fairly consistent; lately you never know, so we decided night was safe. He did great and slept the whole time. We got to take him to church for the first time. It was fun, although his Meme was a "baby hog" the whole time. We don't mind. We know she is just proud. We then got to spend some time with Nanny and Pop and Aunt Abbey and Uncle Bryan. It was a fun day overall. Cameron was good for most of the trip. He had his occasional fussy baby moments, but no major meltdowns that couldn't be stopped. He is doing so much more these days. He holds his head up all the time, and will try to crawl up you when you put him on your shoulder. He even rolls over. He can go from his back to his side and now he can get from his side to his belly...almost. He gets his whole body but his bottom shoulder gets stuck. It makes him SO frustrated, but it is cute! He is using his arms more now and smiling ALL the time. It is beautiful. Things are going good, and tomorrow he will be exactly 8 weeks. Time flies!

Single Mom???

Cameron and I survived our first night without Daddy. He left yesterday morning around 4 to go to basketball camp in Valdosta. It was a LONG day and thank goodness Laura came by to help out last night. Cameron didn't nap much yesterday and for some reason didn't go to bed until 11 last night, which is really unusual. Laura came by last night to take care of him and get him to sleep while I washed bottles and did the daily laundry of all the spit up clothes and burp cloths. I'm so glad she did. If she hadn't I wouldn't have ever gotten to bed, and I needed it. Cameron woke up at 2:15 and 5:30 to eat. He went back to sleep after both feedings so it wasn't too bad. We do miss Daddy though. I have been sending him pictures and video clips to get him through the separation until tonight. We will be so glad to see him. I am even more grateful now that Cam has such an involved Dad. I have so much respect for single parents. I don't know how they do it day after day. I know I will be SO happy when my "other half" comes home! :)

On another note, Cameron went to his first softball games this week. He LOVES outside and did really good. Everyone LOVED him (of course). We found out we were pregnant last year when Casey and I were both coaching softball. We had our first scare during one of the games and the kids and the parents were always so supportive of us, so it was fun to take him there and show him off.

Just thinking...

For some reason Cameron decided to stay up late tonight. As I begged him to go to sleep so I could do the same I just thought how lucky I am. Casey and I are two of the luckiest people I know. I think of myself and the life God has so graciously given me, and I know I am totally unworthy. There are people around me everyday who deserve the fabulous things of life that I have, but they don't have them. I know people who give and attend church faithfully; they are leaders in their church, and yet can't conceive a baby. I know others who have a stronger walk with the Lord than I currently do, and yet they miscarry, and there is me...I love God, and I have had a long relationship with him. There have been times when I was so close I could feel him and other times I have strayed, but God is so faithful and loving. I look at my life and think how can You be so great to me? I have an amazing husband who loves me unconditionally. I trust him with my life, and I know he will always take care of me. I have the most beautiful child in all the world. He is healthy and happy. Everyday he does something else to amaze me. I am so unworthy. I don't deserve any of it, and still he loves me so much he gave it to me anyway. I am so grateful for my amazing life.

Changing Time!

Cameron HATED being changed the first month or so of his life. He screamed like you were killing him, but now it is one of his favorite times. He will lay there and smile and look and try to talk. He really enjoys it now. He was especially happy this particular changing because he had just wet Daddy! I think he is adorable!

Swinging Time

Here is Cameron in his swing. This is his favorite swing right now. He still prefers being held, but he will stay in his swing for a while!

June 10, 2008

WWhheeww....We SEEM to have found the answer to Cameron's belly/crying issues. We took him back to the doctor last week and told him he HAD to try something else. Cameron had gotten where he cried practically every minute he was awake and was spitting up SO much! We changed formula and put him on more medicine. I feel like it is a science experiment everytime we make his bottle. I hate having to give him so much medicine, but he is a TOTALLY different baby now. He slept 6 1/2 hours last night between feedings and before he was waking up every 2 hours crying. He is so much fun when he is awake. He is alert and is looking at everything and everybody. He has started smiling all the time. He makes the sweetest noises. Last night he and Casey were playing. Casey would lean his head to one side and Cameron would stare and him and follow him. He was adorable. Cameron has become so much fun, and I am so glad we are getting to stay at home with him now. These times are priceless and I'm glad we get to be here to experience them all. I'm putting lots of pictures up to catch everyone up. Sorry I've been such a slacker!

June 2, 2008

I always seem to fall behind when updating this blog!!! Taking care of Cameron keeps us busy! We went to our first basketball game. Cameron did great. He actually slept through the first two games and then woke up for the last one. He was fussy when he woke up so I had to stand up and bounce with him to be able to stay, but he did good overall. Casey is very glad we were there. It is important for me to add Cameron to our lives and let him experience what we do instead of shutting everything down and staying at home with him. He slept so good the first few games. Everyone was impressed, but I thought about it and in my belly all he heard was whistles and buzzers and the sounds of basketball. It was probably almost comforting in a weird way to hear it all again. Besides that Cameron has started staying in his swing more, playing on the floor and on his tummy, and doesn't scream though a diaper change. This is a welcomed change. In the beginning you would have thought he was being stabbed. Now he will lay there and look around while you take your time changing his diaper and even his clothes. He has gotten really fussy and spits up so much with his new colic formula. If it doesn't get better we are going to go back to the doctor and see if we need to change his medicine or up the dosage. Sometimes he will cry for over an hour. It breaks your heart. He has good and bad days. The good days and his sweet face make the bad days worth it. He is still amazing. I'm attaching some pics from the basketball game and some of him playing. He is still TOO cute!! :)

May 22, 2008

Sorry for not posting anything lately. We have had our hands full! Casey has been wrapping up school and I have been taking care of our sweet colicy boy. He has good days and bad days. The worse if feeling so helpless as to how to make him better. I wish I could take it away from him! Anyway...today we celebrate his ONE MONTH birthday! He is changing and growing so much! He is drinking 5 ounces of formula now during each feeding. He still eats every 3 hours. Sometimes when we are lucky he sleeps late at night, but never much more than 4 hours. The biggest news however is he sleeps in his bed! I admit now, that he was sleeping with me on the couch until then. I know the dangers, but he would cry everytime you laid him down alone. I finally decided it was time. He doesn't like sleeping on his back, so he sleeps on his stomach. Again, I know the dangers. We have 2 monitors for him. One is a video monitor where we can see him in the living room. The second is a motion monitor. If he stops breathing or it detects no movement an alarm sounds. It works...if you forget to turn it off and take him out of the crib, the alarm goes off to remind you. In spite of the lack of sleep, the crying, and still be sore from the c-section, this has been the most amazing month of my life. This incredible little man has changed our lives. Neither of us knew we could love something so deeply and immediately. They say you have this bond from birth...I loved him at birth, but I fall more and more in love with him everyday. I would do anything for him, and I know Casey feels the same way. We look forward to many, many more months and years to come with this sweet baby!

May 13th, COLIC!

My poor sweet boy has colic. This explains why he has been crying so much. We have some medicine and we are changing his formula. Hopefully he will be feeling much better soon!

May 12, 2008

Here are some more pics of Cameron on his changing table. He is finally starting to stay awake some and interact with us. He will look around and seems more alert. He is also crying more and for long periods of time. This has been stressful because the poor baby can't tell us what is wrong. It makes you feel so helpless. We try everything. He eats; we change his diaper, but nothing helps. It usually happens at night, but we will survive. Besides the crying, he is really becoming fun. He is showing signs of his personality. He is going to be so amazing!

May 6th, 2 weeks old

Well we made it to the two week mark! Cameron has gained all of his weight back from birth and is doing really well. He is still being held all the time because he doesn't like to be put down anywhere. He isn't sleeping in his crib yet, but we are working on it. Thank goodness we have such helpful families! Here are some pics from his 2 week mark...he is a beautiful boy!

May 3rd, 2008

We decided to try to get out of the house for some fresh air and take Cameron to the lake for a picnic. Clarks Hill has special meaning to us because it is where we got engaged and where Casey lived the whole time we dated. We have spent many nights out by the lake, and we wanted to take Cam. We loaded up all of our baby supplies, got Subway for lunch, and headed out for an afternoon in the sun. Cameron slept through most of the trip, but we had fun anyway! It was good to get out of the house and have some time together. Cameron woke up on the way home and we think he was shocked to find a world outside of our house. He picture is priceless and explains it all! :)

The first week

Here are some pictures from the first week...it was rough, but we made it! :)