My First Jewelry!

We had a wonderful surprise in the mail today when we got home! Aunt Ashley, who's own birthday is today, sent Cameron her very first piece of jewelry. It is a beautiful silver necklace with a tiny heart, and she is fascinated by it. See?

It is such an extravagant gift, so we are going to be extra careful with it! We want her to be able to wear it for many years to come. Thanks so much for thinking of her special day, Aunt Ashley! We can't wait for your next visit to San Antonio. Cameron promises she has lots of big slobbery kisses to give you!

Praying for Stellan

Baby Girl,
Our dear sweet (blog)friend Stellan turns one year old the day before you do. And he is having another terrible time with his heart rhythms and had to be rushed to the hospital. It is yet another reminder of how thankful we are that you have been so perfectly healthy. We are going to pray that this turns around as quickly as it started, and that sweet Stellan will be home soon to have his own cupcakes and presents.

It is still completely unbelievable to me that just over one year ago, I was just a wife waiting for the biggest change of my entire life. And now I feel like you are the ingredient that changed the whole recipe and made everything better!

Last night, you woke up around 9:30 crying. I mean, really crying where Daddy and I knew something was weird. When I went in to get you, you were sitting up and just wouldn't stop. So I thought maybe you just wanted Daddy (you were only interested in him and followed him around all evening), so we went and snuggled up in bed all three of us. After a few minutes of Daddy holding you and still crying, you reached out to me and wanted to snuggle. We laid down and I sang "You are My Sunshine" and rubbed your back.... And you were out. You looked like a little angel all curled up next to me. You almost never want to cuddle, so I decided to savor it. We watched the last few minutes of "The Office" and I laughed silently, and then Daddy firmly suggested that I take you back to your own bed so that I could sleep comfortably.

I think you just wanted to give me a happy moment to still think of you as my tiny baby, not the one-year-old that you soon will be. Thanks for giving Mommy a good snuggle!

It's all about the Cupcake

Cameron,
I am so glad that you are not going to be a spolied girl. I mean, everyone has two birthday parties, right? Oh, they don't? Hmmmm. Well, only because you are turning one. Surely we won't have to have two parties forever. Right? (Please tell me I am right.)

Well, this year we will be spending your actual birthday weekend in Abilene with ALL the family. But we didn't want to miss out on all our friends here in San Antonio, so we had a very small party on Saturday. Cute costumes and cupcakes were the order of the day!

Bad news was that your costume apparently made your skin FREAK OUT and break out into a terrible rash. You had it on for about fifteen minutes, we managed to take a few pictures....

... and then Mommy thought that maybe some sunscreen might be a good idea. But when we got inside, we noticed that your skin under the costume was bright red! So we yanked off the Tinkerbell and went with our favorite tutu instead.

We played a few games outside since some of your friends are a lot older. You and Ainslee were mostly amused by the tiny traffic cones that Daddy had out. At least the weather was great and you could relax in the cool shade!

Then we headed back inside for everyone's favorite part - watching you have your very first cupcake.

You are apparently a big fan of chocolate, which makes you a girl after your mommy's own heart! Here you are diving in...

The hot pink icing gave you a fabulous handlebar mustache!

And before we knew it, there were only crumbs left! We couldn't believe how much you actually ate!

Happy early birthday, my little cupcake!

Fun in Wimberley

Hi Pumpkin,
This past weekend, we were happy to have your Uncle Tanner come in from College Station to spend some quality time with us and Grandpa and Gigi! They were visiting on yet another pig shopping trip (this time for a cousin who is just starting out with showing animals.) When we had no plans for Saturday, we thought a trip to Wimberley was just what we all needed! After a wonderful lunch at the Wimberley Cafe, with some amazing sweet potato fries that you especially enjoyed, we headed out for some shopping (lots of browsing) and picture-taking!

Of course, your daddy and Uncle Tanner were perfectly content to hide away in this little nook off the main street and just play checkers...

You had a great time hanging out with Grandpa!

We found a few Christmas presents for our humonguous family, and were excited to go see the little pumpkin patch just down the street.

Princess Cameron with her carriage!

The fall is your favorite time of year, I am almost positive of it! Everyone needs more orange in their life...

Night at the Symphony

Cameron,
Thank goodness for our friends who trade off babysitting. Last night we had a big night out for just Mommy and Daddy. After dinner at one of our favorite places, Boudro's on the Riverwalk, we headed to opening night of the San Antonio Symphony. Yes, your daddy actually went. Though he did ask if there was going to be a jumbotron, or if he could bring a big foam finger to wave around.

Mommy loves having the occasion event to get all dressed up for, what can I say? But look how handsome your daddy looks!

There was an incredible featured violinist who didn't use sheet music for an entire symphony (about 15 minutes long), and we each liked different composer's work. My favorite was the dreamy Impressionist piece by Debussy, and Daddy liked the finale from Beethoven's 7th Symphony. We had lots of laughs about being "cultured" and had a great night!

Even though we got you home so late, you slept in and woke up in a great mood to head to church. And I must say that you look fabulous in orange! It's your October shout out...

Practicing for Halloween!

Look what arrived from our Ebay purchase! You are going to make an adorable Tinkerbell!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Cameron,
This week you were a little under the weather, so I figured it was probably a better idea to take care of you than blog about it... After you had acquired your third symptom (rash, cough, and finally a fever) we decided to take you to the doctor as soon as we could. Unfortunately, that happened to fall on Daddy's birthday, so we ended up having a very boring evening at home with nothing to cook for dinner except pancakes! Even the present that Mommy had ordered turned out to be damaged and had to be sent back. Terrible for Daddy's 29th!

The next day we headed to the doctor and found out that you just have to get over a little cold. (Even today you are still coughing but have been fever free for a while...) We had planned a small dinner with some friends for that night and Mommy just couldn't bear to miss the only fun thing for Daddy. So we headed out and stayed for most of dinner to wish Daddy another year of health and happiness! And he was so happy you were there!

We had a great time at Pappadeux's, Daddy had his first raw oyster (with Levi's advice and guidance), and you made it through most of dinner without being too cranky. We were so excited that our friends could help us celebrate Daddy.

Mrs. Cara couldn't help herself, she ended up holding you and Ainslee for a bit...

Even though we headed home to crash, we were so glad we didn't miss out completely!

Rainy Weekend

We had a great weekend with Grammy! It seems like the time in between our visits is way too long. Last weekend she got to go to Denver to see her sister, my Aunt Cindy, and even got to spend time with Amy while she was back from Costa Rica for a short conference. I understand now how much moms need their daughter time! She came down Saturday morning and we had a lazy time around the house. It poured rain most of the day, and we got three and a half inches! Our only adventure was to run to Target and have dinner at BJ's Brewhouse, one of mom's new favorites here. Most of our day was spent sorting through all the goodies that Aunt Rachael sent. She was supposed to join us but was suddenly feeling sick and needed some rest. I think the first week of her new job at ACU wore her out, but we are really proud of her and hope it just keeps getting better and better. Our original plans for shopping at the outlet mall would have been a soggy disaster anyway! Fortunately for us, she was gracious enough to send tons of clothes for us to borrow and a fun new toy.

After impressing Grammy with your walking skills, you decided this little house was super fun right off the bat. It plays songs, has the swinging door and doorbell, and it's great for you to stand up and lean on. The other night Daddy tried to crawl through it but was a teensy bit too big. You are having tons of fun with it. The only downside is that your room is a bit cramped with your swing and jumperoo, so this toy will mostly remain parked in the living room until we figure out how to better arrange things.

It is crazy how fast your birthday is sneaking up on me! I had started packing up all the clothes that run up to 12 months that you are growing out of. And when most everything was emptied out, this is what your closet looked like:

Lots of empty hangers! But after we did laundry and sorted through all the things Aunt Rachael and Emerson sent, check out the after shot:

And that is just shirts and dresses! Your drawer of pants is overflowing too. We are so thankful that you will have so many cute things to wear. Aunt Rachael has fabulous taste, so I can't wait for it to be a little cooler and try out some of your winter wardrobe. It is wonderful that we can save money and not have to buy all new things when you go up a size. Thank you Aunt Rachael and Emerson!

Daddy came home from his trip on Sunday afternoon and you were so excited to see him. He got lots of smiles and hugs, and you kept resting your head on his shoulder. He was worn out from driving and enjoyed hanging out with you and watching the Cowboys game (right up until the end where they choked and lost. By the way, I think we should issue a formal apology to Jessica Simpson, since she is obviously not the problem with Tony Romo's game!)

And now, here we are with just a few more weeks to go. This Saturday, we are having your picture taken for your birthday, so I am worried that you will take a nosedive any day now and give yourself a huge black eye or something. Hopefully we will have a peaceful week. Mommy could definitely use some relaxing evenings with you to take her mind off all the things coming up. Hugs and kisses from you are just what the doctor ordered!

Eleven Months Means Elevation!

Princess Cameron,
All hail the eleven month old! You are getting sooooo big and are starting to walk more and more every day. Just this evening we practiced walking back and forth from me to Daddy and back.

And I think you are about to go through a growth spurt. Mrs. Cara said that you ate FOUR tubs of baby food at lunch and barely seemed full until the very last bite. All that walking must be burning some serious calories. You are definitely on the downward slide out of the 12 months size, but I am a bit worried that the 18 month stuff will swallow you for a bit. Guess we will have to start rolling up your pant legs or something.

We are just so impressed with how smart you already are. The other night, your daddy asked if you were ready to go "night night" and you immediately crawled into your room and sat by your crib. We have no idea if you know what that means or if it was coincidence, but the second time you did it, we decided you are a genius.

Next up, planning your birthday party and trying not to overlook Daddy's! He is going to be way older than you. But he and Mommy both love you to pieces. Happy eleven months, sweet pea!

Little Miss Tinkerbell

October has completely arrived and yes, I am due to write Cameron's 11 month birthday post. But I have some spectacular pictures in mind that I am going to work on tonight, so we will be a bit late. Just had to share that I won a halloween costume off of Ebay, so it is official - Cameron will be an adorable little Tinkerbell!

Who wants to see Bo dress up as Peter Pan? :)