Dr. Auntie Paige

Dr. Auntie Paige made her first visit to see Camden in Minnesota as a doctor. Which begs the question, is it Dr. Auntie Paige? Or Auntie Dr. Paige? I say Auntie Dr. Paige because being Camden's aunt is much more important. In any case, she got a little taste of what it's like to be mommy and daddy. Camden knows how to welcome visitors with a 3am wake up call. Here are a few pictures from the visit.

Time for Baby Gates

I think we're in trouble. Camden's very adventurous and he's begun scaling the stairs. So it looks like it's time to equip our home with some baby gates. Which I'm thrilled about since they are so aesthetically pleasing and not inconvenient to open/close, open/close, open/close....Oh well, it keeps Cammers safe.

Note: "Cammers" is a little nickname that Kim has begun calling Camden and so far it has stuck.

My First Mothers Day - 2008!

Yesterday was my first official Mother's Day! I've been a mom for 8 months now and it's been a true joy ride. Mother's Day started with a huge morning of events. The first, was a sleep in for me! With Camden being such an early riser (5:00 or earlier most mornings) getting to sleep until 8:00 is a true treat.

My sleep in was followed by a babbling "Happy Mother's Day", as interpreted by Daddy, and many happy smiles as he was eating his breakfast. I took over Camden's meal and Steve set to task preparing a special brunch for me. We enjoyed crepes with strawberries, bananas & nutella. We also had the classics as well: eggs, bacon and OJ :-) The three of us brunched together (Camden settled for his cheerios). A mom can't ask for a more enjoyable start to the day!

Following the meal, I was given my gifts. Camden had already given me one of his cards at school, we had a Mother's Day tea party. See the card on the left above! I'll treasure the card and especially his signature handprint. Daddy and Camden had been shopping together and I was pleased to get a "World's Best Mom" card. My son is certainly one smart cookie, isn't he! I was also pleasantly surprised that Baby #2 had picked out a very cute card as well. (For those wondering, Camden will be a Big Brother shortly after his first birthday... we're going to have another busy September!) I got a video to watch with Camden, a Thomas the Train epidsode. Thomas is a favorite book that Camden and I read together, so it will be a lot of fun to see how he reacts to the video. Other than a Vietnamese children's video and a Sesame Street Sing A Long, we haven't done any "story" DVDs. The finale is a 3d ultrasound of Baby. It's pretty exciting that we'll get such a cool sneak peek at the little guy in just a few weeks!

My big morning ended with an in home spa treatment. Let's face it, a nice relaxing bath is hard to come by these days and I certainly enjoyed a long soak in a true "Calgon, Take Me Away" fashion. I hope every Mother's Day is like this one!
The day progressed with Daddy getting a quick nap in and Camden and I played with a variety of toys he's got. He's a busy little guy and his energy never ceases to amaze me. Since it as still "my day" everyone readied themselves quickly when I said I wanted to go to the mall to get a couple things done. We headed out on a relaxed family adventure and returned home all tuckered out. I think everyone got another nap in after the mall outting. Finally the day ended with many hugs and kisses from all the men in my life! Soon, Camden was tucked in bed and Steve and I were calling our own Mothers and wishing them a Happy Mother's Day. I'm sure they look at us, all grown up and now parents and wondering where the time went. Much in the same way we look at Camden and think "what a whirlwind 8 months!". I know for both of them it's an extra special Mother's Day as they now have a such a wonderful grandson to enjoy and spoil so much!

I will always treasure all the memories of this special day and have to give Steve a huge Thank You for doing such a great job yesterday! He's a great partner and having his love and support eases the challenges of motherhood and certainly multiplies the joy in being a mom! I think the secret to such a a great mother's day is really about appreciating all the blessings there are in being a parent and having such wonderful mom's to look up to! Happy Belated Mother's Day to all mom's who are reading this post!!!

Having Fun With Camden

Daddy Caved

Pigs flew, hell froze over, the Cubs won the World Series, Michigan beat Ohio State, and we bought a freakin' minivan. Yeah, daddy caved. Kim finally talked me into it. It was a sad, sad day. I even remember one of my friends calling me while we are the dealership closing the deal. It was a turning point in my life really. I knew he was calling me to join him for happy hour with our cool, young, hip friends. Meanwhile, I'm getting ready to put pen to paper and officially drop cool, young, and hip from my reputation. I didn't even answer my phone. I was too embarrassed to explain to him what I was doing and why I wouldn't be making it to happy hour that night. We were purchasing a Honda Odyssey.

We traded in the Mazda Tribute and now I drive the Toyota Camry, which we call "Earl" because the letters on the license plate are "URL", and Kim drives "Katie", who got her name from her license plate who's letters are "XKT". So it's been a few weeks with the beast, as I like to call her. Katie's not all bad. I've sort of come to grips with it.

Katie is silver pearl metallic. She sports a sunroof and a spoiler adds to her sportiness. The dual sliding doors add a level of convenience that we've not had before. I have to admit...It's quite nice. Even though the van is bigger in size, it feels like we're saving space in our garage because we don't have doors that swing out when we have to put Camden in.

On the inside, gray leather was our interior of choice. Normally, we're not leather people, but we went with it on recommendation of others in order to combat the high likelihood of spillage in the vehicle. The nice thing with leather of course, are the heated driver and passenger seats. Almost a must in cold weather climates. The spacious interior has enough room for 8 passengers and there are about 55 cup holders spread throughout the vehicle. It is also equipped with a rear entertainment system and wireless headsets so that passengers in the back can listen to or watch something different than what the front passengers are listening to. Often times, you'll find Camden and me chillin' in our captain's chairs in the back watching a DVD while mommy chauffeurs us around. Actually, Camden sleeps. Daddy watches a DVD. It even has a video hookups in the back so we can bring our Wii or Playstation along on long trips. Not sure how the Wii will work in a moving vehicle, but we're bound to test it out I'm sure.

The rear seats fold flat into the floor which is a super convenient feature. Or at least people that have owned an older minivan tell me it's a convenient feature. I'll take their word for it.

How I Drive a Minivan....and Live with Myself