Before and After

I am not going to use this blog to post cutesy stories and chain letters. If you know anything at all about me, you know I am not a fan of most of those things anyway - I'm pretty certain God's blessings in my life are not dependent on whether or not I "forward this message to 10 people in the next 5 minutes". But my good friend Sarah, a mom of twins that are exactly one year to the day older than Camden, sent me this and I just had to post it here for you to read. Almost every one of them is already true for me...and the ones that aren't yet are just waiting to happen. Enjoy!

BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful to have been born the USA, the most powerful free democracy in the world.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for Velcro tennis shoes. As well as saving valuable time, now I can hear the sound of my son taking off his shoes -- which gives me three extra seconds to activate the safety locks on the back seat windows right before he hurls them out of the car and onto the freeway.

BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for the recycling program that will preserve our natural resources and prevent the overloading of landfills.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for swim diapers because every time my son wanders into water in plain disposables, he ends up wearing a blimp the size of, say, New Jersey, on his
bottom.

BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for fresh, organic vegetables.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for microwaveable macaroni and cheese -- without which my children would be surviving on about three bites of cereal and their own spit.

BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for the opportunity to obtain a college education and have a higher quality of life than my ancestors.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful to finish a complete thought without being interrupted.

BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for holistic medicine and natural herbs.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for pediatric cough syrup guaranteed to "cause drowsiness" in young children.

BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for all of the teachers who had taught, encouraged, and nurtured me throughout my formative years.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for all of the people at Weight Watchers who let me strip down to pantyhose and a strategically placed scarf before getting on the scale each week.

BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for the opportunity to vacation in exotic foreign countries so I could experience a different way of life in a new culture.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful to have time to make it all the way down the driveway to get the mail.

BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for the Moosewood Vegetarian cookbook.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for the Butterball turkey hotline.

BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for a warm, cozy home to share with my loved ones.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for the lock on the bathroom door.

BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for such material objects as custom furniture, a nice car, and trendy clothes.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful when the baby spits up and misses my good shoes.

BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful for my wonderful family.
AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for my wonderful family.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

It was high time Camden got to see the baseball team for whose stadium he is named. The Orioles came to Dallas to play the Rangers this week so he finally got the chance. We went to two of the three games in the series b/c of church on Wednesday night (but with the butt-whoopin' the O's got that night...I'm kinda glad we weren't there...) The two games we made it to were great - close down to the last out and the O's came out on top both of those nights.

Camden did great - despite the fact that he's usually in bed at 7:30 p.m. and the games didn't even start until 7:05. I finagled his naps to allow him a late afternoon siesta and that seemed to do the trick - and when that didn't work, cotton candy did. :o)

Here are some photos from the game - enjoy!!!
Daddy and Camden on their way in to the game.

















Camden - just taking it all in...

















Mmmmmm...cotton candy

















Daddy and Camden at the game...go O's!!!

















He'd have made it if the game hadn't gone into extra innings!!!

Happy Easter!

The Easter ham leftovers are in the fridge, the dyed eggs reconnaissance missions were all successful and the chocolate bunny has met his demise... Camden probably won't remember much of what we did today but I am glad he was here to help us celebrate. A few years ago Ryan and I would try to "get in the Easter spirit" by dyeing eggs just for the two of us - but putting all that effort into decorating only to have our finished works of art sit in the fridge until it was time to throw them away just wasn't as fun as Easter with a little one.

Here are some pics from our Easter holiday - and while the baskets, bunnies and jellybeans are great, I'd be remiss not to give thanks for the reason we celebrate - the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus!!! Happy Easter to you all!!!

Camden with all of his Easter loot!













Dyeing Easter eggs...okay, watching mom and dad do most of the work... but I did help a little!













That bunny is mine...all mine!!!

















Our finished eggs... when Camden has a little brother or sister we'll have to make sure their name isn't more than six letters long or we'll have to buy more than one dozen eggs! :o)

Mom's Two-Cents

The party is over, the "baby" is sleeping and now that I finally have a chance to catch my breath, I wanted to take a minute to write my birthday post.

I really want to write something sentimental - to tell you all about how my life has changed in the last year and how much I love being a mom. I want to jot down all that's going through my mind about this past year...but somehow the words just fail me. There just aren't words to describe how much I love my child - even on his (and my) worst days - and how I can't imagine life without him. I can't figure out how to explain how even though being a mom can sometimes be the most difficult job I've ever had, it is far and away the most rewarding. Words also fail me when it comes to expressing how grateful I am for my husband and how much I have enjoyed watching him grow as a father this year.

So before I get all water-head on you, let me just post a couple of pictures of Camden with his cake...laughter is the quickest remedy for tearing up...at least you can say you're laughing so hard you're crying...

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Hi everyone...Camden here. Mom and Dad are too busy reminiscing over the past year and mourning the loss of my "baby status" to post a blog, but I wanted to post a little something on my special day.

Today was very exciting. I woke up at my Granna Jane's house to Honey Nut Cheerios and not the old plain ones that I usually have. The Cheerio snack was followed by some good 'ol southern style sausage gravy and biscuits - yum-o!!! After breakfast I played a little and then I took a nap before I (along with my entourage - mom, dad, Oma, Papa, and Granna) went to get my very first haircut. Not that needed one or anything...here's my "before" shot...

















"Aunt Sherrie" (my stylist) kept me entertained through most of the haircut with a lollipop. I was so excited about the sucker I hardly noticed she was coming at my face with scissors.

















The haircut was a huge success. I got a little fussy b/c I knew they'd keep throwing treats at me. By the time it was all said and done, not only did I have a stylish new "do" but I had two lollipops, three cookies, and had played with three new toys and two combs.

















After my haircut I went out for lunch with the same entourage and then home for a three hour nap - all that lollipop and cookie eating wears a boy out! Now I am just hanging out with the fam and gearing up for my birthday party tomorrow.

I'll leave you with a video my mom worked long and hard to put together to commemorate my first year... She'll debut it tomorrow at the party, but I thought a sneak peek on my actual birthday would be better...

Birthdays, Birthdays Everywhere!!!

I used to think October was the big birthday month...me, Ryan, my mom, my brother, my sister-in-law...even my parent's dog all celebrate birthdays in that month. However, I am beginning to think that March is catching up. First we celebrated Jay on the 7th, then my brother-in-law on the 9th, today it's my sister's turn and Camden will round out the month of celebrations on the 27th.

But for today, we just wanted to wish Auntie M a happy 24th birthday. Again, doing it the best way we know how...














We love you, Maria and we can't wait to see you in a week. Camden is so excited about taking his Auntie M to see the cattle drive!!!

Love you - M, R, C and M-dog

A Shout Out to Cousin Jay

So I intended to post this much earlier in the day, but our Internet was possessed by the devil or several of his angels...or possibly all of them. Ryan just spent an hour on the phone with AT&T Tech Support and now we're finally reconnected. So...

We just wanted to wish Camden's only cousin, Jay, a very happy first birthday!!! We had trouble deciding on what to send...a Facebook message...perhaps an e-card...but in the end we decided sending our love and our birthday wishes ourselves just made the most sense!















































Happy First Birthday, Jay - we hope this is the first one of many, many, many more happy birthdays ahead! We love you and we can't wait to see you soon!!!

Love,

Aunt Mandy, Uncle Ryan and Cousin Camden...and Millie too!