Happy Cousin's Day!!!

So I am pretty sure Hallmark just makes up "holidays" in order to create more cards and gifts to sell. Nonetheless, we just wanted to take a moment to wish Cousin Jay a "Happy Cousin's Day" today.

So far, this is Camden's only cousin...but none of my three siblings have started having kids yet so I am guessing that number will grow if they ever get around to it. I know I shouldn't pressure them, but I had to deal with the "pressure" for a few years and now it's someone else's turn. Okay...now it's Matt and Annie's turn - I'm fairly certain I don't want Camden's next cousin to be Uncle Ira's kid. :o)

So, Cousin Jay, enjoy your lone spot of cousin attention today - and have a great cousin's day!!! We'll see you in just four days!!!

A Visit with Friends

This past Wednesday Camden had his first "sleepover" when my dear friend Jenny and her one year old son, Drew came to visit. We had a great time hanging out for a few days and then Jenny was off to a conference so it was just "me and the boys" for a couple of days.

I know there's lots of research out there trying to disprove or prove the idea that boys innately play with trucks and girls with dolls. I'm not sure which side of that argument I fall on, but I learned this weekend that at least our two boys fall on the side that likes to wrestle as soon as you put them together.

We enjoyed watching them so much we decided to take a couple of short videos to share with you. They're our version of a "cage fight" since they're trapped in the crib - but they enjoyed it and only cried when we took one of them out and the match was over.






I really enjoyed having a great visit with my friend and getting to know her little guy better. I will admit, going from one kid to two wasn't easy and took a lot more thinking, planning, patience, and Advil than I had thought it would - but even though they just left to head back to Raleigh/Durham today, I'm already looking forward to the time that we can visit again!

Happy Birthday, USA!

We hope you all had a great Independence Day weekend. Ryan and I enjoyed a nice long weekend where we were able to get all of our "chores" done on Friday so that we could spend Saturday and Sunday just relaxing and enjoying time with friends.

Friday night we took Camden to see the fireworks in "Kaboom Town" which is in Addison, Texas about 15 miles from where we live. They have one of the best Independence Day celebrations in the country as rated by the American Pyrotechnics Association, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal...and they didn't disappoint. We got there in time to enjoy a nice dinner (thanks for the gift card, Mom and Dad) and see the war planes and flight stunt show before the fireworks began at 9:30. Camden loved the fireworks. He sat perfectly still for about the first 15 minutes and then he just wanted to play with the glow sticks a local church group had been handing out. I think they gave him 7 or 8 of them...they bought us quite a few minutes of peace - i.e. when he wasn't begging to get down and walk around.

Saturday night we had some friends over to grill out and earlier that afternoon while I was cutting up the watermelon for our appetizer, I handed Camden a piece...he wasn't quite sure about picking it up to eat it, but hey, whatever works...