Camille

How can I resist posting some pictures of our littlest cutie?

Well, I can't- so here you go.

This is a new pose of hers- the superwoman pose:

 This is the same picture I posted on Facebook- Camille after Audra decorated her- Baby Jesus on her bum and the pumpkin hanging from her ear. At one point she had a sticker on her forehead. Audra was laughing hysterically through all of this- I don't think Camille was amused. But look at those cheeks!

 And, Camille has started scooting. It's really cute. We will often say, "Where is Camille going?" She starts on the carpet, but once she gets onto the hardwood she can really start moving. Today she ended up in the built-in shelves- and as you can see, she was incredibly happy about it.

Appliances

It seems like life has simply trudged along- nothing too exciting and nothing too big going on. Which is GREAT. I have decided I like simple and laid-back.

We did, however, attend a couple of open houses one Saturday a couple weeks ago and we found our dream house. I LOVE this house- it is unbelievable! The pictures don't do it justice, but the reasons I love it are because of the HUGE backyard (1/2 acre), mountain views, sits at the top of a quiet cul-de-sac, a patio in front, 4 bedrooms upstairs, a LAUNDRY CHUTE, huge, spacious rooms, an over sized garage with attached workshop, and a massive basement with plenty of storage. It needs updating- as you can see- and it is way over our budget, BUT it has been sitting empty on the market for over 6 months, so we could probably get them to come down quite a bit- making the house even more perfect.

We have thought about putting in an offer. We talked to our lender about how we could make it work.

But in the end, we really don't want to actually MOVE. Moving is such a PAIN! And, this house is in a different school district and neighborhood. It doesn't have the parks and the rec centers that we have out here. And we really do love Audra's school and she has some great friends out here.

So in the end we have decided to stay- for now. Unfortunately, the dream house won't sale so it keeps taunting me and screaming "Buy me! Buy me!" I really need somebody else to buy it so I stop getting ideas- for the sake of my sanity and Ben's as well.

But looking at houses, and after having 2 more kids now then we had when we bought our current house, made us realize some possibilities out there. So the idea of moving is at least in the back of our minds, but at least for today we have decided to stay put.

Instead of moving, we decided to update our kitchen. I think Ben is hoping this will placate me and get me to stop talking about moving. Our kitchen is pretty boring. And, still not quite as functional as I would like, though we are getting there. We have done a lot to try and make it better, but it is still pretty...blah.

One major problem was our dishwasher. It sounded like a freight train and would keep us up at night. Ben has been begging for a new dishwasher for quite some time. I did not want to have mismatched appliances, however. I know that is so incredibly snobbish, but the kitchen is already horrid, and mismatched appliances would just make is so much worse. So we came up with a plan: We would wait until Black Friday, when we knew there would be great deals, and buy all new appliances.

Last Friday we went shopping without the kids and found the perfect appliances. As expected, there were some stellar deals.

On Tuesday they were delivered. That was a bit of a nightmare because the delivery truck broke down right in front of my garage, meaning I couldn't get my car out of the garage which led to some stress as I tried to figure out how I was going to pick Claire up from pre-school. Thanks to the help of some friends, it all worked out.

I spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday cleaning up and getting everything ready to be used.

In the end, we both LOVE the appliances! They really are beautiful and help to make the kitchen look a little better.

Here's the kitchen before:

And here's the new appliances:

We got a double oven, with the bottom being a convection oven. Any tips for using a convection oven? I am SUPER excited about it, but I need to learn how to use it. The fridge is awesome, with tons of space. We got an above the oven microwave to make more space on the counters. Ben and I installed it ourselves which was a bit of a pain but it saved us over a hundred bucks so it was worth it. The most important piece was the dishwasher. We got a Bosch and the salesman told us we were going to become pretentious and never buy anything but a Bosch again. I don't consider myself pretentious, but maybe we will become dishwasher snobs as we are already in love with it.

You may have noticed that the counters are now pretty clean and clear. Before I had no incentive to have the kitchen be spotless- there was nothing to really showcase. Now, I want the kitchen to be clean and streamlined, and I want the counters clear to have a more zen feel. Having nice things makes me want to take care of them better. Am I the only one who feels this way? I know this is a little bit of pride getting the better of me and that I need to repent. But please let me just enjoy having something new and beautiful for a few days before you judge me too harshly.

This is actually just phase 1 of our kitchen design plan. Next we are having our cabinets painted. Then we will get new counter tops and a back splash put in. We will probably be done with it all by summer, and I think it will look great when it is all done! Maybe I won't want to move after all.

Tis the Season

Yesterday we set out our Christmas decorations, including the tree.

The girls were, of course, beyond excited.

Every decoration made them squeal with delight.

They were beside themselves with happiness.

Ben and I had one contradicting and overriding thought: Christmas was a lot more fun when our moms did all the work.

Thank you mom and dad for doing all the work all those years so that us kids could really enjoy Christmas.

Now that it is over, it is nice and festive in our house.

I should also note that this is the first year in many that we have put out fragile decorations. I believe that the two older girls are old enough to be told what items not to touch and Camille is, of course, young enough to not get into anything. It's one year of peace- hopefully- in the breakable items department! Next year will be a different story.

 Camille had a great time watching. She just smiled and googled and admired our handiwork:

Overall, it was worth the effort- like it always is. Let the holiday festivities begin!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I was in charge of cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I think it went really well. Even the turkey turned out- which I was concerned about.

I tried some new recipes and did without some High Family Staples. No pink salad or celery and cheese whiz.

We were a small crowd, but that was just fine. We had a great time. Audra said, "mom, this is a great feast."

Here's the turkey:

 Yes, the skin did burn a little bit. But, the inside was moist and delicious. I brined it in an apple cider bath and it worked real well.

Here's the table ready to go.

 The girls. Camille had a great time. Honest.

 Look at Claire's smile:

Life is good. We have been very blessed, and I love that Thanksgiving gives me a chance to remember that.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Check-Up

Today was Camille's 6 month check-up. She did mostly great, with a little bit of not-so-great-news thrown in.

Here's her stats:

Weight: 16 lb 6 oz (53%)
Height: 26 inches (50%)
Head: 43 cm (68%)

She's doing great- perfectly average in every way!

But, there were a couple of concerns.

First, she has an ear infection. I had suspected as much as she has been fussy while nursing for the last couple of days. So she is on meds- and NOT taking them well at all. We are going to have to get creative with how we give her the meds in order for her actually take them instead of just spitting them out. Any suggestions??? Any help would be appreciated!

Now in order to show you the next concern I need to show you a picture I took about a month ago:

Do you see how her arms are out? Apparently that has the potential to cause some problems.

Because she often pushes her arms back like that, including rolling her shoulders backwards,  it makes it more difficult to balance herself and sit up, which can lead to poor muscle tone in her stomach. She currently can not sit up on her own at all, which is not too concerning, but if she isn't sitting up by Christmas I need to set up an appointment with a physical therapist.

This actually makes me laugh a little bit. Who knew good posture (having your shoulders back), could lead to a 6 month old needing therapy? I certainly did not. You learn something new everyday.

Anyway, it's certainly not a big concern, but just something we need to watch.

Even with those things, however, she got 3 gold stars for cuteness.

Nutcracker

On Saturday we went as a family to go see a Children's Nutcracker.

While getting dressed beforehand Claire asked: "Can I wear my swimsuit?"

Me: "No."

Claire: "But the Nutcracker is in water."

Me: "No, it isn't. It's a ballet and they perform it on stage."

Clare: (walks away with a VERY confused look on her face)

Despite being above ground, we had a great time.

Claire sat mesmerized the whole time, Audra loved it but got tired about 3/4 of the way through and asked to take a nap, and Camille played with toys and cooed through the entire show.

 They were ecstatic to go up on the stage after the show:

 Then, they got to meet some of the performers:

 Here they are with Clara:

Yummy Yams!

We introduced Camille to yams today- her first food other than milk. Audra and Claire were very excited to help out, so Audra kept wiping her face to keep it clean and Claire got the bib ready to go.

 This is her new smile. She started doing it a few days ago- it's kind-of a flat line:

She did pretty well. She took about 3 bites total, and then she closed her lips and refused to take anymore. She wasn't upset or angry about it, just kind-of  like "no, thanks." We'll try some more tomorrow.

I Don't Like This One Bit!

Today was a sad, sad, day.

Audra insisted that I cut her long, beautiful hair.

She said, "Don't worry, it will grow back."

Meanwhile, my heart broke. 

My baby is growing up. See for yourself.

Before:

 After:

 Admittedly, she looks gorgeous. She really is such a beautiful girl. 

She is worried her friends won't recognize her, and she LOVES her new hair. I love it, too. It makes her look so much older, though!

Claire insisted on being part of the action as well. She said, "I want my hair like Audra's!" I only cut off about 1/2 an inch, and there is no noticeable difference.

Cutest Pilgrim On the Block

Today the kindies did a big Thanksgiving celebration. They performed a play, sang some songs, and then ate lots and lots of food. It was really cool- her teacher did a great job putting everything together.

We all went for the presentation- it is really nice that Ben has a flexible job so he can take time to attend these things. After the presentation he brought Claire and Camille home (Claire hasn't been feeling to well and we didn't want her to be near the other kids) while Audra and I went to the Thanksgiving party. Lots of parents were there- it was great.

 Do you like her frog socks? I think I read somewhere that pilgrims wore frog socks.

 Audra had two lines:

Line 1: We have a wonderful crop.

Line 2: Let's gather walnuts, chestnuts, and acorns.

They got to talk in a microphone, which all the kids loved, but as parents we only understood about 1/4 of what was said. Still very cute, though.

 Audra with one of her best friends:

 And with her teacher:

Six Months

It's hard to believe this Little Bug is 6 months old, but she is.

She continues to excel in the "sweetest baby" category. She amazes both Ben and I with her cheerful disposition.*** Hopefully it continues through her whole life!

At six months, she still isn't quite sitting up. In the pictures above I propped her up against the box to help hold her up. She is almost there, but not quite.

She's actually quite sedentary. She can roll over and will sometimes then scoot herself around within a 3 foot radius, but that's about it. We decided she is just so happy no matter where she is that she has no need to move around. She makes do with wherever she is at and in whatever position she finds herself.

She thoroughly enjoys her Exersaucer. One night she was in there for over an hour just playing nicely. She sure makes having a baby easy!

Toys have become a constant accessory. She especially loves toy keys and anything shaped in an "O" that she can easily hold. All toys, and anything else she gets a hold of, instantly ends up in her mouth.

This month I have succeeded in getting her on a pretty decent schedule- and it has admittedly been nice for all of us. She takes three naps a day, and this schedule has forced us to be home more. I like that. We do go out, as she will take naps in her car seat still, but I have really calmed our schedule down and it has led to a slower pace for all of us, which I have really enjoyed. I have also discovered that if she takes a super short nap and I go up and nurse her for a few minutes she will fall back asleep. Hence, her naps have become much better. She will usually take at least one 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.

I am hesitant to say this for fear of jinxing us, but she is sleeping well at night. She pretty much only wakes up once at night to feed. I can handle that! We put her to bed at 8, then I give her a dream feed around 10:30 when Ben and I go to bed, and then she wakes up sometime between 1-3 to nurse, then wakes up around 7-8 to nurse and wake up for the day.

She is laughing and smiling with more frequency. Even I was able to get her laughing hysterically the other night, which was a huge feat. Normally she only laughs for Claire and Audra.

She still fits into 3-6 month clothes, but I imagine that will only last until Christmas before we need to upgrade. I don't have her stats yet, but I will on Tuesday. She must be close to 17 lbs, though, I am guessing. By far she weighs more than the other two at this age.

It's a little strange for me to have such a lazy baby. Part of me wonders if I should be worried that she isn't crawling around getting into everything like the other two were at this age. Others have assured me, however, this she is quite normal and it is the other two who were off.

This week we will be starting solids which is exciting.I'm thinking yams. It seems fitting with Thanksgiving right around the corner, right?

***Except for last night when she cried all through the girls' Christmas photo shoot. Look forward to some "fun" Christmas cards with our grumpy baby. Note to self: Never schedule a photo shoot in the evening.

Silly Girls

 The girls think it is hilarious to "decorate" poor, defenseless Camille:

 Then, Claire decorated Audra- again, they both thought this was hysterical. 

Camille was not nearly as amused:

 Our little cutie:

Coming Out Of The Darkness

The last six months or so have been really tough for us Coloradans. I mentioned it before just after the theater massacre, and instead of getting better things got even worse. Jessica Ridgeway lived about 15 miles from my house. Her killer went to school about 3 miles away. That's been tough to process.

Living in a swing state has been horrific. Hate, lies, and vitriol have flooded airways, our mailboxes, and Facebook. I've HATED it.

To top it all off, some things with both of our extended families have caused us great concern.

I've been in a dark place the last few months.

But, a couple of weeks ago I was talking to a girlfriend and it all changed.

I don't know if this is true, but I don't care. It made me feel better and changed my perspective, so whether it is true or not doesn't really concern me.

She told me that she had gotten a FB status from a friend of a friend (can you guess why I am questioning it's truthfulness?).** This friend of a friend has a son who is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon church) in Ghana. She posted this on her FB page:

Elder Holland (a leader in our church) came and spoke. He said that 80,000 new mission submissions came in since the announcement in General Conference of the younger mission ages. 50 new missions would be created in the near future as a result of this new bump in missionaries.

 He said “in this family we serve” should be our motto! We need to all lock arms and go to work. He quoted I Cor. Chap 12 and reminded us that we are all vital members of the whole. We are all in this together. When one rejoices or suffers, we all do. God is interested in our personal growth. He said that it may not be easy. Growth comes through adversity and hardships. But the Lord said that he will ease our burdens and give us strength to carry them. God is aware of us. 

How awesome is that?!? For those of you who are not members of our faith, I am sure that you know that we have missionaries. These missionaries certainly preach of Christ, but they also do service throughout the world- missionaries serve in many different ways. Normally, we have about 54,000 missionaries serving at any given time. According to this, 80,000 NEW future missionaries applied in just about 4 weeks!!!! Think of all the good they can do throughout the world!

This simply lifted my spirits as I realized that God is in charge! No matter what happens, God is in charge! We are HIS children and He cares about each and every one of us. While we may not understand why so many horrible things are happening, God understands.

Anyway, this has really helped me to not feel so much anger, despair, and hate about so many things that are going on right now. I do have faith in Christ, and I know that He cares very much about this world we live in. His work is going forward- and in the end, that is what truly matters.

**The Salt Lake Tribune did confirm that as of two weeks after conference missionary applications did spike from 700 a week to 4,000 a week, so that does add some validity to this statement.