Cam & Zoey Meet Santa

I put my brave and patient pants on last week and took the kids down to see Santa at the mall.

Based on last year's experience, I did what I usually do and set my expectations really, really low.  I have to be honest when I say that I get a kick out of the "crying kid with Santa" picture, but something told me there wouldn't be tears from Cam this year.  I didn't know what Zoey would do/think.  Given her recently increasing "stranger danger," I thought she might be the one to lose it.

Instead, Zoey smiled like she does and Camden was content to sit next to the nice Santa and put his hand on his leg.  In his mind, smiling would have just been going overboard.

It's certainly not the greatest picture ever, but it'll be a nice memory down the road.

Cam told Santa he wanted "Thomas" for Christmas and thanked him for the sucker and "Cookies for Santa" plate (that he promptly threw on the ground.

Here's to more traditions and only semi-tramautizing your kids.

Take Luck,

LP

Halloween

 I have been looking forward to Halloween ever since I found out I was pregnant with Zoey.  I mean, who doesn't get excited thinking about the possibilities of dressing their children in coordinating costumes?!

We were given a perfect hand-me-down lion costume by our neighbors so that sparked the idea of a Wizard of Oz theme and Cam being the Cowardly Lion.  In my daily conversations with Tiffanie, she offered to make a Dorothy dress for Zoey.

To say I was pumped is an understatement.

Tiff, being the brilliant woman she is, suggested taking the kid's Halloween pictures a day or two early - just in case.  I'm so glad she shared that wisdom because someone was not too excited to be the Cowardly Lion while the other was perfectly happy to be Dorothy.  

Even getting to draw a lion nose and whiskers on Mommy didn't cheer him up or get him excited.

I got my pictures, anyway and squealed in delight that my bribes of M&Ms and getting to watch Toy Story were successful.

Ryan came home shortly after I took the pictures and didn't help the "I don't want to be a lion..." situation by saying, "Don't you want to be something cool?!  Like Batman?!"  

So, off we trotted to my second favorite store, Costco, where Cam could choose between being a Minion, Scooby Doo, Captain America, Iron Man, or Batman.

After initially saying he wanted to be a "school bus," Batman won and we immediately started teaching him to say "I'm Batman" in a super deep voice a la Christian Bale.  We figured that come Halloween night, we could give him a choice between being the Cowardly Lion and Batman - but we were pretty sure which one he would choose.

Look at that smile!

We live in a great neighborhood but it's tradition to go to my parent's house to trick-or-treat.

Cam loved trick-or-treating.  He said his "trick-or-treat!" and "thank you!" without being told, and made this really funny, low laughing sound every time he was given candy.  He was cracking me up because after saying "trick-or-treat" he would put his little bucket down on the ground instead of holding on to it and then would run down the driveway, put his bucket back on the ground, and tell Grammy and Papa what candy he got.  If he didn't know what the candy was (everything except M&Ms) he would just yell "I got candies!"

After about 10 houses, we called it a night and headed back to Grammy and Papa's to count his stash. We let him pick one thing to eat and shocker - he chose M&M's.  My own OCD heart leapt as I saw him grouping his M&Ms by color before eating them.

Now to start brainstorming for next year's coordinating costumes.

{Halloween 2014}

{Halloween 2013}

Take Luck,

LP

Pumpkin Patch

I came to write my Halloween recap post and realized I never posted about our trip to the pumpkin patch!  The past few weeks have been nothing short of crazy so, better late than never.

There's not much to say about our trip to the patch.  And of course, my goal was all photo-related.

Cam was not super interested in looking at the camera, or smiling, for that matter.  All he wanted to do was try to pick up and heave any pumpkin in his sight. 

And then I forced them to sit for a pumpkin-patchy siblings shot.  Clearly, Cam was thrilled and thankfully Zoey is still little enough to oblige my photo requests.

I had just waved my white flag in hopes of getting a decent picture of Cammy with the pumpkins and he said "Mommy, take my picture!  I sitting on the pumpkin!"

Not the greatest family picture ever, but considering we don't have too many of these - it'll do.

And why I didn't take their little sibling picture here is beyond me.  I'll blame the oversight on my mind being focused on getting out of the patch sans-potty accident.  I really wanted to take Cam through the corn maze but I just knew that we'd be deep in the maze (or lost, for that matter) and he would say, "I gotta go potty!"

We came home with a couple pumpkins, dry undies, and some cute pictures to document the adventure.

With two young kids, that's called a success.

{Pumpkin Patch 2014}

{Pumpkin Patch 2013}

Take Luck,

LP

Mother's Day

My third Mother's Day is in the books and I can hardly believe it.

We celebrated my mom on Saturday by taking the ferry to Seattle so we could meet up with my little sister and spend the day celebrating the amazing mother that she is.

We went to the Woodland Park Zoo where he Cam didn't seem too interested in the animals (other than the penguins) but after witnessing his dance moves on the lawn - I was mostly convinced that the wild beast belonged there.

My little sister captured a really sweet moment between my mom and I.  We were standing there, watching a bird you wouldn't expect to see sitting in a tree sit on a tree (I know, super exciting), and my mom was feeling the baby move inside my big 'ol belly.  She loves to feel the baby move and I can't say that I blame her.

After the zoo we went to my sister's place so we could eat lunch, Camden could nap, and we could recharge the batteries a bit before going to an early dinner.  What can I say?  We like to eat.

  

A day shy of 37 weeks pregnant and a full stomach courtesy of lunch and dinner makes for one big and uncomfortable baby belly.  We made it home late and thank goodness Hammy didn't put up a fight about going to bed because we were all exhausted.

Sunday morning we all got up together bright and early and Ryan treated me to doing the grocery shopping, filling my car with gas, and bringing home a delicious Starbucks coffee.  When he got home he made sure to tell me that he considered buying me a Mother's Day card and flowers, but then decided - eh, better not.  I've never met someone who takes the phrase "it's the thought that counts" so literally.

Cammy, my 37 week belly, and I played outside a lot and our time included me being traumatized multiple times by the pesky garter snakes that have taken residence in our yard.  Much like Tiff, I do not do snakes.  Or rodents.  Or anything else that is creepy and/or slithery so you can imagine how thrilled I was.

My parents came over for a BBQ and we continued to celebrate the special day with a yummy dinner and a wild beast child.  I swear he woke up from his nap and insisted on being a grumpy, defiant, little monster.  The afternoon and evening saw lots of timeouts and tears (from the both of us).

With it being a challenging parenting day, I found myself feeling really guilty with my frustration and the losing of patience.  I know there are (and will be many more) challenging days, but I also know that the days of "just us" are really, really, really limited.  Thankfully we ended the night with him giving me some sweet goodnight hugs and kisses, but darn it if I didn't feel sad after I shut his door and he went to sleep.

Last year I did some reflection on Mother's Day and how I felt about my little guy.  Not much has changed really - except the love and pride I feel for Camden has exploded and grown even more as he has left the baby behind and grown into a little boy.  Even on the tough days, he brings so much joy and happiness to my life.  I feel immeasurably blessed and fortunate to be his mommy, and feel so grateful to be living the life I live with my guys and this sweet, growing, little ladybug.  I am so excited to give Cam a little sister and for next year's Mother's Day picture to show me holding two sweet babies.

   

Take Luck,

LP 

Easter 2015

Thanks to a 4:15am wake up call from one little big-boy-bed-fleeing bunny, our Easter Sunday was a very slow and quiet one.  After I escorted him back to bed, he did fall back asleep until 5:50am, which as sad as it is to admit, made me really happy and even prompted me to say, "Good job, buddy!  Yes, we can go downstairs."

Even though I know it's silly, I had a lot of fun picking out little things for the (ahem) Easter Bunny to put in Cam's basket.  Nothing crazy of course, but in his basket was a new Thomas & Friends train (Henry), a Bubble Guppies coloring book, jumbo crayons, bubbles, fruit snacks, and a small bag of M&Ms (that I am hoping to later use as bribery).  Cam really only cared about the new train, and couldn't have cared less about any of the other little goodies.  I may or many not have eaten his fruit snacks.

The Easter Bunny also brought Ryan this book and a sugar-coma inducing amount of candy.

We had planned on attending church service and an Easter egg hunt, but not only was early-rising-Hammy in no shape to have a late nap - this mommy was dog-tired and completely content on staying in her jammies and doing absolutely nothing.  I mean, totally getting some things done around the house. 

Ry and I hid plastic Easter eggs around our main floor and let Cam loose on the hunt.  I was so excited to see him get excited by each and every egg he found (especially the one's with two jellybeans inside) and proud that he made such big strides in his egg hunting abilities since last year.

After Cam's lengthy and much needed nap, Ryan offered to do the grocery shopping and I did not turn him down.  Happy Easter to me!

Depending on who in the house you asked, Sunday was either "Easter" or "MLB Opening Night."  I'll give you a second to figure that one out. Ryan was pumped to be able to wearing "matching" Cardinals jerseys with his best little buddy.

My parents came over for Easter/Opening Night dinner and I took the opportunity to get a not-our-Sunday-best family photo.  It may not be our Sunday best, but at least we got out of our jammies.

The smiles on both Cam and Ryan's face just slay me.  I sure do love those boys and feel very lucky to call them mine.

Take Luck,
LP

The Easter Bunny

For tradition's sake, I decided to inflict torture on my sweet child again and we went to see the Easter Bunny yesterday.

I can't believe I didn't dedicate an entire post to last year's visit given the gem of a picture we came home with.

Anyway, I picked Hammy up from daycare, changed him out of his play clothes and into somewhat respectable clothes, and we met my mom at the mall.  There were a few families in line ahead of us, and there was only one employee taking photos and collecting payment, so it was moving rather slow.  I figured it would be ok to wait a little while, so he could watch the creepy bunny interact with other kids before it was our turn.  

We stood there, Camden waving and saying "hi" to the bunny, and telling me and Grammy what he wanted in his Easter basket.  For the record, he wants "trains, cars, bubbles, and coloring."  Not necessarily coloring books or crayons.  Just coloring.  Every so often we would ask him if he was excited and ready to sit with the Easter Bunny and he would initially nod yes, but then quickly shake his head no.

Our turn was up and much like his experience at meeting Pluto at Disneyland, he turned into Catatonic Camden and I knew we were in trouble.  I tried sitting with him to get him to stop ugly crying, but it was no use.

I really can't say that I blame the poor kid.  The bunny is super creepy.

Does it make me a bad person/parent that I was pretty confident he would react the way he did, yet I still took him?  Maybe, don't answer that.  I was comforted that he was fine once he was off the perch and wanted to see his picture.  My mom and I praised him and then got him a free spoonful of vanilla ice cream from Baskin Robbins (even though he requested "pancake" when asked what flavor he wanted).

Let's compare this year's photo with last year's.  Because honestly, who doesn't love a good comparison photo?  

I'd say he was slightly less terrified this year and fell more into the betrayal ("I thought you loved me?!") category.

It's hard to believe that next year we have the potential for two crying kids on the Easter Bunny.

Take Luck,

LP

Our Christmas

Since we spent Christmas in St. Louis last year, this year we were able to stay home.

We spent Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family at my aunt and uncle's house.  It was a really enjoyable night and Camden had a blast entertaining his aunts and uncles.

He was also wearing his new Minnetonka booties from his Aunt Tiff for the special occasion.  All the women in the room were swooning over how cute they were.

He spent the evening chasing Buster the cat, eating crackers with sour cream, playing with Buster's cat toys, and stealing my dinner roll.

We had planned to stay the night at my parent's house so we could all be together Christmas Eve and wake up together Christmas morning.  Camden has spent the night there several times (sleeping in a pack-n-play), so I was very optimistic that it would be a normal night for him - just that Ryan and I would be sleeping in the bed next to him.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

We put him down after getting home from the Christmas Eve party, while the adults stayed up playing dominoes.  After heading to bed around 10:30 and getting cozy, we heard Camden start rustling around, and soon - he was standing up and crying.  I didn't think much of it and brought him into bed with us - thinking that he'd snuggle up and fall asleep.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

From 10:30 to 3:00 in the morning, I rocked and bounced him, laid with him on my chest, tried to let him get himself comfortable, and tried putting him back in the pack-n-play.  All big fat failures.  He wasn't even totally awake during all this craziness - just this zombie child that could not and would not fall asleep or lay still.

I have no idea what the problem was, but at 3:00am he finally fell into a deep sleep, laying horizontally (of course).  It's too bad we didn't have a video camera recording because someone, somewhere would have gotten a real chuckle out of seeing the position I was able to finally sleep in - curled up into a little ball, next to Sonny, at the bottom of the frigging bed.

The sleep didn't last because at 5:20am, the wild beast was awake and asking for Papa and Grammy.  Many a swear word went through my head, but I got up with the little booger.  I'm sure you're shocked to hear that we were the first ones up, so we waited for the rest of the house to rise (Grammy wasn't far behind us) and open stockings and presents.

This train loving child got tons of new Thomas trains, cars, clothes, books, and other fun toys.  Mommy wished there was a drive thru Starbucks in her stocking, but alas, there was not.

In my Taking Stock post I said I wanted Christmas Day to pass by slowly.  And holy shit did it ever.  It was completely wonderful and completely exhausting all at the same time.  Definitely a Christmas we'll remember.

Even though we couldn't physically be with Ryan's family, we communicated all day through texting and were able to FaceTime in the afternoon.  It was really nice to be at home and not travel for the holiday, but we missed being with them.

I guess we can start counting down until next Christmas, when we'll be traveling to St. Louis with a 3-year old and a 6-month old.  I'm pretty sure that Mommy will be wishing Santa brings her a beer helmet or something else that allows me to consume large amounts of alcohol.

Just kidding.  Sort of.

Merry Christmas to all!

Take Luck,

LP

Cam Meets Santa

I'm really becoming a poor excuse for a blogger lately.  And the fact that I have to preface every post with that sentiment is telling me that I need to buck up or stop.

This past Friday was my day off so after Cam's nap time, I pulled his literally little man clothes out of the closet and we made our way to see Santa.  

Based on his reaction to the Easter Bunny, I found myself (again) setting the expectations bar very low for this experience.  When we got to Santa, we were behind two other families, and I was happy to be.  I hoped that would give Cam a chance to look at the big guy from afar and see that it wasn't so scary.  Well, it became our turn and my little guy who had just been "ho ho ho-ing," and pointing to all the trees and balls (ornaments) was not moving, and had a death grip on my hand.

I sat down next to Santa with Cam on my lap first, asked the photographer to take a photo, and then promptly handed off, got up, and ran behind the camera saying, "Go! Go! Go!" to the cameraman.  The jerk (not really, I'm just being dramatic) only took two photos and this was the "best."

Don't get me wrong - I love the crying-babies-with-Santa-photos, but I was hoping for better.  Maybe more of an sad crying face?  Does that make me a bad mother?  Either way, it's another good future blackmail tool.  And don't worry - the lip tucked back in and the tears stopped as soon as Santa gave him a sucker.

Ryan likes to point out that this is a complete waste of money, and I can't say that he is incorrect, but I hope this is a tradition that we can continue for a long time (even when we have to bribe Camden to get up there) and compare that photos over the years.

It's hard for me to believe that this is Cam's third time meeting Santa.

Last year I'm pretty he was overall clueless and didn't realize what was happening until it was already over.

The first time, when he was only four days old and out cold, I was so worried that Santa was going to drop him that I didn't even want to ask him to try and prop him up a little more.

Here's to traditions and traumatizing your kids.

Take Luck,

LP

Halloween

Blogging has been seriously lacking lately, and not for lack of writing material.  More so a lack of motivation.  You see, at the end of the day, a hot shower and curling up in bed are much more enticing than plucking away on the ole laptop.

Halloween was over a week ago, so a recap is better late than never.

We decided to paint our pumpkins this year instead of carve them.  Deep down, I know we have many, many years of pumpkin carving ahead of us - so keeping it simple for another year was super appealing.

I laid down a big plastic sheet on the dining room floor, put blobs of paint on paper towels, and let Cam go to town on his little personal pumpkin.  He seemed to really enjoy it at first, calling every color "blue," and slathered paint all over the pumpkin.  It was all good until the paint got on his hands, which then got on his belly.  He tried to stand up and run away from the "dirty" paint, stepping in it, and things really went to hell.

Tears, tears, and more tears.  I kept asking him if he wanted to keep painting, and he cried, "No!"  So, I asked him if he wanted to take a bath, and he wailed, "No!"  This kid really does not like to be dirty.

After a nice bath and removing all the "dirty" paint, he was excited to admire his pumpkin from afar.

As far as his Halloween costume goes - I chose to exercise my Mommy powers and choose for him.  Lord knows how many more opportunities I will have to steer him away from costumes that have masks and weapons.  So, a dinosaur he would be!

A really happy and excited dinosaur, as you can see.

I was really excited to take him out trick-or-treating, but was mentally preparing for him to hate it.  I figured he would be afraid of the strangers opening their doors and reluctant to say "trick-or-treat," or "thank you," or anything!

It's funny I was worried about it because he loved it.  I mean, running in between each house yelling, "Hurry! Hurry!," loved it.

He said "trick-a-treat," "thank you," and "bye bye," like a little champ and loved getting to pick a piece of candy (or two!) out of the candy bowls.  I said I thought he would be afraid of strangers opening their doors, but he actually tried to walk inside of the first house we went too.  

I think his favorite part of the whole experience was getting to use the flashlight on Grammy's phone. I had a total brain fart and didn't even think to bring a flashlight (and like an idiot, I dressed in all black...).

We only went to about 10 houses before calling it quits.  I think he would have done the whole neighborhood if we had let him.  Our last stop was back at Grammy and Papa's house and I wish you could have seen the look on his face when Papa answered the door.  This child adores (seriously, adores!) his Papa.

I'm a mean mommy and didn't want to give him any candy, but after getting pressure from my mom and Ryan, I caved and let him have a mini Twix.

He practically swallowed it whole.

Halloween 2013

Take Luck,

LP

Pumpkin Patch

This year we decided to try out a different, less crazy pumpkin patch.

For as much as I think Camden is an "all boy" type of kid - he surprised me when he had no interest in touching pumpkins that were dirty or having dirty hands.

Cam tried to kick a few pumpkins, threw a few (small and "dirty") pumpkins, and he was was mostly interested in the little slide they had set up (shocker) - but overall I'd say it was a successful trip to the patch.  Sadly, I don't think I'll never look at a pumpkin patch/farm the same after visiting Gust Brothers Farm.

Last year I made some guesses as to what this year's patch experience would be like with an almost-2 year old.  I thought he'd be hard to wrangle and insist on jumping in the bouncy house.  I'm happy to report that Hammy was easy to wrangle and I can guarantee that if we had gone to the patch with the bouncy house - he would not have touched it with the tip of his chubby little finger.

I'm thankful my mom came along so she could take some family photos.  I loathe asking a stranger.

Take Luck,

LP