Twenty-Two Sure Suits You

Punkin,
Mommy just realized that I have been totally off in how many months old you are! I apparently skipped on your monthly blogs from 20 right to 22! Now that it's corrected, you really ARE twenty-two months old now. Whew! I don't want you growing up any faster than you already are.

This month you have had to get used to change. Daddy started his new job and is getting home later in the evenings. You get so restless with Mommy sometimes because I know that I need to be doing laundry or cooking dinner, but you just want someone to sit and watch Mickey Mouse with you. Daddy is always so glad to come home to your smiles and silly games. You have also gotten moved up to new classes and new teachers both at daycare and at church. All your teachers say that you are very smart, an amazing talker, and a big helper.

You are still missing Ainslee a lot. You seem to ask to see her every few days, and are so funny when we get to see her. Even Cara says that you two act just like sisters, fighting over silly things like holding hands or which way you want to walk. But you are so sweet when you hug and smile together for pictures. (Speaking of pictures, Cara got the sweetest shot of you peeking in on Hattie while we were hanging out in Fredericksburg this weekend. Hopefully she will post it soon! hint, hint) You seem to be a good friend already.

You have been doing great at using your little potty here at home, but don't seem to think about it anywhere else. I am trying not to push it, but some friends tell me that we might just have to bite the bullet and force ourselves to do a potty training weekend. Lots of time at home to plan on cleaning up accidents doesn't really sound like my idea of a great time, but I think you would catch on quickly and do great. We'll see when we decide to tackle that!

You even got your first tricycle this month! Mommy had seen a cute little Radio Flyer one a while back, but when I went to the store to buy it, it was gone. I was so excited to find a similar one at a resale shop last week, and you love it! You only struggle a bit with keeping your feet centered on the pedals so you don't get stuck, but you really enjoyed cruising around the driveway. Now we just have to teach you not to go anywhere near the street!

Now that the school year is off and running, we are getting into a pretty good routine. I am so proud of how quickly you adjust to everything and learn new things. You are always keeping us on our toes!

Love,
Mommy

Piggy Tails

While playing around last night after your bath, we discovered that your hair is getting long enough to make cute little pig tails. You of course had to run and show Daddy, who exclaimed that you looked beautiful! So this morning, you headed off to school for the first time with piggy tails. I'm sure they won't last all day, and you might have some seriously crazy hair later this afternoon, but they are sure cute for the moment!

Where does one get a Mensa application?

Miss Cameron,
Mommy cannot believe how smart you are, so we have started assembling a list of all the amazing things that you do, all before you are two!

- You know that Daddy's name is Bo, Mommy's name is Katie and you know your name is Cameron.

- You like to sing your ABC's (almost got them all right) and do not like Mommy to help.

- You know that one of your daily chores is to feed Joe Dog, so every morning and evening, you carry his food out to his dish, dump it in, tell him "good boy" and then put the cup back in the pantry where it belongs.

- You have started to memorize your favorite books and like to say the words before we get to them.

- You have learned to hold hands and say prayers, and you often remind us to do so at meal times.

- You tell us to "be careful" and wear our buckles in the car just like you.

- You know how to change out a DVD so that you can watch Elmo. Thank goodness you don't know how to work the remote yet or you would totally hog it.

- You have recently started pretending to put your stuffed animals to bed. You lay them on their tummies (since that is how you like to sleep) and cover them with a blanket. You pat their backs and say "night night." It's so sweet!

- You love to help Mommy unload the dishwasher or put clothes in the dryer. You are always quick to want to be a good helper!

- You have learned to smile and say cheese when someone wants a picture of you.

- When you accidentally hurt Daddy, you come over and kiss it and say sorry.

- You have learned how to stand on your stool in the bathroom so you can watch yourself brush your teeth before bed.

- You have always been good at taking your shoes off, but now you are able to put on your Crocs all by yourself on the correct feet!

- Daddy has taught you tons of body parts, including heel, neck, ankle and elbow. You wave your hand back and forth when we ask where your wrist is.

- You are getting pretty good at shapes and counting, and you totally know all your colors.

- You even love using your new Barbie laptop that your sweet teacher, Ms. Liz, got you when you graduated from her class. It is supposed to be for 3+, but you are pretty good at pushing the letters and numbers that it asks for.

What can we say, genius runs in the family!

We love you, pumpkin.

You Get What You Pay For

Cameron,
I feel like this is the week of life lessons. And here comes another one: Sometimes, you get what you pay for. Mommy has been considering several areas of the house that need something either fixed or purchased to make it work. I told your daddy last night that this is the time that I bet drives all homeowners crazy. You are "moved in" and now you have to start really living with things that are broken or wrong, or pay to fix them all. Like your shower. It has hideous tiles with a funky bumpy surface, so nothing will stick to it. Your adorable frog that holds all your bath toys looks like roadkill sitting on the counter. We keep having to dry off your toys and just lay it back on its side rather than hang him up nicely. But we will just have to live with it for a while.

The kitchen, however, is a different story. There is a big empty space where a small table is obviously supposed to go. So I was on the hunt and came across this cute table from Pier 1:

I liked the size and that it looked a little worn in. I thought the bottom was more ivory than tan when I looked at it in the store, and since my kitchen is tan and brown and more tan, I thought it would be a nice change. It also came with these adorable chairs in "ivory" too...

I thought the shape was interesting and that they would serve their purpose well for only being $99 each. On sale! How great. Except the first store I went to only had one chair. So I decided to be good and not buy it until I talked to Daddy first. No more hiding my purchases on the credit card. And of course, he thought it was SOOOOO expensive. But I guess eventually he realized that sometimes you have to let your wife spend money on things, and gave in.

So after dinner last night, we loaded up and went to a different Pier 1 store. They unfortunately only had one of the tables (as the floor display) and they only had one chair because the other was broken. Apparently, the curved wood in the back is super fragile and gets constantly broken during shipping. We purchased the one good chair and headed to ANOTHER Pier 1 store. They had the table as their floor display too and it was scratched. And the only chair they had in ivory was also broken. Chair stats are now - 1 good, 2 broken. But it's only 8:30 at this point and Cameron seems to be hanging on by a thread so we decide to just get it over with and go back to the original Pier 1 store that I was at earlier in the day.

We get there and Bo is already cranky and explains to the manager that we have been all over and just want to buy the freakin' table and one ivory chair. She has one in stock and it is.... broken. 1 to 3, people! Fortunately she has the table brand new in a box, so we decide to buy it. She is quite nice and wants me to get the sale price, so we agree that I will just take the same model chair in a brown stain (which I later discover completely clashes with the table top) that I can bring back to exchange as soon as they receive more ivory chairs, most likely in two weeks. But she at least wanted me to have a second chair to sit on. She even called the store at the Forum because they showed 2 chairs in their inventory. BOTH BROKEN! 1 to 5! **This is the point in the story where I should have realized that this furniture is just crappy and should have walked away** (But Kerrville has three if I happen to be going there - I wish, but NO!) I leave after writing a big check and thinking how nice she was even though the experience has been a nightmare.

And then it gets worse.

We get home after 9:00 and Cameron is exhausted and fussy. As soon as I get her to bed, we bring in the furniture and realize that the "ivory" just looks like more tan in the kitchen light. So I think, "oh well, maybe I will just go back and get another brown chair." Then we assemble the table and realize that the top has tiny little red spots (that look nothing like the finish) ALL OVER THE PLACE.

At this point, I instantly realize that I am not going to be happy with it and yet, I am afraid that if I ask him to take it all back apart that Bo is going to lose it. He already had to drive all over town with a cranky toddler and hates dropping money like that and now I just can't tell him it was all for nothing! But fortunately, he realized it was just total crap. So we boxed it back up and decided I was going to take it ALL back the next morning.

And by some miracle, the same nice manager was there when I arrived. She was horrified that I was back. She understood my frustrations and asked if I wanted a store credit, because obviously my check from the night before hadn't cleared yet. But of course, I am not going to spend that much money on Pier 1 furniture ever again! So the dilemna is that she doesn't have that much cash to give me a refund. And I don't want to go hauling this table and chairs around in the back of the pickup all weekend when we are a THIEF MAGNET.

So I left it there and am going to have to go back either tonight or tomorrow to get all the moolah. It's a good thing that this manager seems so trustworthy! I really like her even if I suddenly despise Pier 1. And so the hunt continues... I am sad to think that I am going to have to go spend more money at a nicer place, but apparently if I don't want it to fall apart in five minutes, that's what you gotta do. Because I learned that you get what you pay for.

Update: Got the full refund. That manager is fabulous. But now I am wondering if I can find something fabulous through a garage sale or Craig's List instead of the $700 set I loved from Bassett Furniture. Decisions, decisions.

Sometimes you learn the hard way.

Cameron,
We were officially welcomed to our neighborhood last night by some thieves. Mommy came home from bible study (obviously not where these guys were) and Daddy had the garage door open. I had picked up some drinks that Daddy needed to put in a cooler, so I left it open assuming he would be going back out to deal with those. He assumed I would close it, and we all went to bed completely unaware that it was a big flashing sign that said "Come rob us!"

Your daddy was so upset this morning. They stole all his tools (some of which belonged to my dad), our lawnmower and weedeater, and worst of all, his two saddles that he won many years ago. They are truly one of a kind and irreplaceable. He totaled up a list to give for the police report and said it was worth over $3000. I am just sick to my stomach. I am sure all those things are long gone and have been sold to pawn shops by now. I hate knowing that your daddy has been so hard-working and helpful to fix things around the house, and now we will have to buy all new things. It's not like we can just stop mowing the grass until Christmas!

Even more frightening, I realize that we probably haven't been all that attentive to locking our cars or the door leading from the garage into the house. Whoever was in there most certainly could have walked right in and taken whatever they wanted from INSIDE the house too. We had Joe sleeping in our bedroom, and he wouldn't have barked or been able to do anything. It's just horrifying to think about it.

Never having lived in a neighborhood like this, we are going to have to start a new evening routine of making sure every door and window are locked and secure, garage is closed, dog is sleeping out in the yard, cars are locked. (Sorry Joe.) I am a little surprised that no neighbors would see anything or let us know that it was wide open. Maybe we just need to make an effort to talk to them all and let them know to watch out for us and we will do the same.

I am trying to see the positives. They only took things that can be replaced. For some reason, they left your daddy's very expensive Ping golf clubs sitting right in the middle of the garage. They didn't break or damage any car windows or the garage door. They didn't hurt any of us or Joe Dog. They didn't make a mess or even wake us up! (How nice our burglers were!)

And the Bible tells us this in Matthew 5:44: "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

So this morning, I prayed for whoever did this to us. That if they are in a desperate situation, that God would provide them a job and an honest way to care for themselves or their family. That they would not put themselves in risky situations where a homeowner might hurt them. That God would forgive them and show them how to live a better way.

Things are just that - things. They can be replaced (though definitely not all at once!) And we will hug eachother tight and be thankful in all situations.

Twenty-One Means Tons of Fun

 

Hi Princess,
Mommy is sorry that we happened to move at the end of the month, and you turned a whole month older without me writing you. I am going to try to get back on track! You are now twenty-one months old and we seem to hear from everyone how incredibly smart you are. One of the workers at church called you the "Little Einstein" of the class. She was shocked when you told her something was an oval shape.

You have almost mastered singing your ABC's already! You tend to skip over E-F-G, but you really have an appreciation for the letter W. Of course, if Mommy tries to sing along with you and correct the letters, you say "My sing it!" Everything is "my do it" and "my hold it." Mommy's favorite is "my help!" You think it is very exciting when Mommy lets you put the wet laundry in the dryer as I hand them to you one by one. Takes longer, but you are happy!

Tonight you made Daddy and I do "ringy rosey" about 10 times. You don't know all the words, but you liked spinning around and falling down so you could jump on Daddy. You also like to sing along to "twinkle twinkle" and "you are my sunshine." If the camera battery ever charges, I am going to try to catch you on video. It just melts my heart. In the car, you are still a bit demanding about listening to your Veggie Tales CD. It always seems to be "my turn" and not Mommy's turn... Hmmm, wonder where you get that from?

This month we have really enjoyed spending time with friends, both close by and far away. You have gotten to play with Ben and Joshua Patteson, those crazy Mowrey girls and all your friends from school. We even made a special trip to Kerrville to visit Ainslee and Hattie, who Mommy just knows you are going to always love and have fun with. (I'm just going to say this ahead of time since I know it will be the case - Don't leave Hattie out just because she is littler. Be nice and play all together!) We know we are so fortunate to have so many wonderful families to spend time with.

You are growing up so fast, and your daddy says he can't believe how much you seem like a little girl and not a baby (until you fuss in your crib at night and remind us!) You haven't really been super productive when it comes to the potty training until tonight. You just kept wanting to sit on it and nothing would happen. But somehow, you decided that Daddy's encouragement was all you needed. Mommy just so happened to buy you this book today, and it has a little tear-out tiara with stickers for every time you go potty! We'll see how long it lasts before you decide you should just get them all. :)

Night night, sweetheart. Mommy loves you!

The New Digs

I have been meaning to post pictures for a while, and just never had everything picked up enough or organized enough to want to show it off. So I gave up. Here's the new house (or most of it anyway...)

I love that we have nice trees and a shady yard. I can actually plant things that don't have to survive in hundred degree full sun!

This beautiful entryway looks onto the back patio. We hope to add some tint to the windows on this part of the house to cut down on heat and electric bills! Unfortunately, with all the windows it will run about $1,300! Tough choice between that and my new washer and dryer...

So here's the 80's kitchen cabinets. I know they are still in decent shape, but they are just not my taste. Maybe some new knobs will cure me for a while, but I would love to have new doors put on soon if we decide to spend that much. Can't have it all at once though!

The backyard is really big for an in-town lot. We are excited that Joe Dog has some space to run around, and your daddy has big dreams of eventually building an outdoor kitchen and bar area. He loves to entertain!

Your bathroom used to be a powder blue color, but now it is tan. I think the bright shower curtain more than makes up for such a bland wall color! Your daddy really restrained me from picking a crazy paint color for this room too...

And the living room now looks a bit more organized now that I got most of the books in the shelves next to the fireplace. The dining room opens up to the left, but I honestly don't know what to put on the walls! It is such a big space that my pictures look tiny and awkward. More things to add onto the list!

My "Happiness Project"

So in the spirit of a new house, new attitude about work, and a new routine, I started reading this book:

I think I want to slow down the pace and try to let the chapters marinate with me for a day or two since she has it nicely broken down into the twelve categories that she focused on. I just finished the chapter on energy, about how to do little things that make you feel better and enjoy your surroundings. She talked alot about decluttering her home and how it made the whole environment more pleasant and calm. Knowing firsthand that this is difficult but possible, I totally agree. When we put our house on the market and cleaned everything out, it made me wonder why we had been keeping all the stuff that never gets used anyway. (Some of it is still in a storage building that we plan to clean out soon. No more paying $50 a month for it!)

She also talked about getting more sleep, something that I often know I need to do and have a hard time doing it. I totally identified with her situation of putting her child to bed and only having time for herself afterwards, when it is already too late to start a movie or read for an hour. Now she has a nighttime routine where she does light cleaning and hits the sack by 10:00. Makes the morning more manageable and makes her feel refreshed rather than exhausted when the alarm goes off. I thought about this last night as I wanted to put off taking my shower when it was already 10:30! Gonna try harder.

The book also says that acting like you are more energetic (even when you think you are pooped) can actually give you more energy! When I come home from work with aching feet and just want to lay on the couch, I am going to try and convince myself that I will want to play with Cameron about 2 minutes after I actually start doing it. Midway through, it's like a second wind kicks in when your body says "Yes, let's do it!" I hear that this phenomenon can also occur with exercise, like say maybe jogging, but I certainly cannot attest to that. :)

**Really need to make this a priority as I am struggling to keep my eyelids up at work. **

The next chapter is on happiness in your marriage, so I think it will be good!

The Honeymoon is Over

Hey Cammon (as you have been calling yourself lately),
Well, now that we are feeling more settled into the house, we are starting to make our long list of projects that need to be done urgently and over the long-term. We fortunately didn't have to paint many rooms, but we did tackle your room to return it to its chocolate and pinky glory. Your daddy is very fond of saying that your room is his favorite in the house because everything is so well-coordinated and cute. We also had to paint your bathroom because it was a dusty blue color that just perfectly clashed with the towels and cute shower curtain I just bought. You should have seen your daddy in that narrow room, balancing himself with one foot on either side of the ladder so he could paint all the way up to the ceiling. You do have a nice skylight in there, so it is bright and cheery, even though the walls are the same simple tan as most of the house. I think I might still paint the guestroom back to the lush "Eiffel Tower" color that is better coordinated to the furnishings, and maybe the office will be our next project.

We already had a cabinet guy come check out the kitchen to (hopefully someday soon) get back to us with an estimate of the cost to add new doors and drawer fronts to the existing cabinets. They are not in bad shape, so I think the facelift is a great way to make it look like a brand new kitchen without spending $30,000. The appliances and countertops are new and very nice, so we were excited to not have to worry about those big costs.

The laundry room is not exactly what I had been fantasizing about.... It's much smaller than I remembered. The washer and dryer are forced to be located backwards of the way I would like them, which means the dryer door opens to the center of the room and I have to do some awkward balancing and stretching to put clothes in. The door won't even open all the way because it hits the washer! I have no idea how to make that better. There is absolutely no room for a cute rug or a fold-down ironing board. Looks like I will be ironing in our bedroom in front of the TV. Oh well, ironing is not my favorite pastime anyway!

Joe Dog seems to be adjusting to the new backyard. He LOVES to get out on a leash and drag me behind him running. Only stopping to sniff the occasional bush and pee on some unsuspecting neighbor's mailbox, he forced me to complete about a mile run on a few occasions. I know it is good for both of us, so I am going to try and make an effort to get him out a few nights a week. In this miserable heat, we usually don't head out until you are already in bed, so that's around 8:30 or 9:00. I am currently refusing to wear the light-reflecting belts or vests, but let's hope I don't get almost run over and change my mind. The neighborhood seems pretty peaceful anyway.

It's just going to be a bit of a challenge to figure out what to do with our bedroom. It is a little oddly shaped with one wall going at a diagonal slant, and we are having a difficult time spacing things so that they can still be accessed easily and be functional. Not to mention the fact that there are huge sliding glass doors that go to the patio tons of windows that let in a LOT of heat. Daddy actually arranged for a guy to come tonight and give us an estimate on tinting all the windows on that side so that they would be more heat-resistant and more energy-efficient.

Did I mention the most interesting addition that I have no idea how to tackle? There is a long-neglected garden in the backyard. It is sectioned off as a raised bed but the fencing is falling over and the plants are out of control. I can tell what the plants are because the previous owners left some seed packets behind, but I don't know if I have the discipline to keep it up. There were tomatores, zucchini, green beans and maybe some yellow squash. I would feel terribly guilty just tearing it out, but it may be for the best...

I feel tired just thinking about all of it. New doors for the patio, expanding the deck to drop in a hot tub, cleaning up the front garden and installing some pavestones, decorating the front entryway... Anybody know of a great place to find an antique bench? I just have to remember that we are on a budget and have to take little things one at a time. Time is more valuable than money, but sometimes it can seem that you never have enough of either!

With Bits of Real Panther!

Cameron,
Mommy doesn't really think that you will be too concerned about this since you haven't really understood the previous one, but Daddy is going to change jobs. Though his old job pays very well and is in a nice air-conditioned building, Daddy has really missed having the friendships and sense of purpose that comes with teaching and coaching. He is accepting an offer to teach 7th grade science and coach 8th grade football at Lopez Middle School. Where he will be a Panther!

And for all you Anchorman fans, I really want to get him this shirt....


The good news is that we hope Daddy will be very happy and be a great teacher and mentor to the students. He is so funny and smart and dedicated that we know he will make a wonderful addition to the campus staff. The bad news is that we sort of don't know what we are getting ourselves into. He is unfortunately missing football camp this week because he didn't get an offer soon enough to give two weeks' notice to his old job, and he really thought that would be disrespectful to leave them in the lurch. He might have to be at school super early and he might have to work late after practices. (So please be nice to Mommy in the car, since now it is just us again!) He might start wearing a WHOLE LOT of navy.

I just want you to know that Daddy and I always think about what is best for our family when it comes to these decisions. And even though he might miss out on a few things this fall, he is so super excited about the opportunity to be home with you more on holidays and in the summer. (Except Mommy doesn't get that much vacation time, so it is a big fat reminder that he will get paid to be home and I won't!) I know you will be his biggest fan and that his players will think you are adorable. I can already picture you and me cheering at games (up until about 8:00) and wearing little Panther t-shirts. We won't tell them that you are probably going to be going to school in a totally different district when you are older. :)

Just so you know, we totally timed this whole moving and job thing on purpose. Just for fun, we like to pile it all together at once and go crazy!