California Dreaming...

We're getting ready to go to California soon! I've been stressing out about what to pack Camden for vacation...I can't take my whole house!  Nor do I want to. I have decided if there is something I forget then I'll just have to buy it there.

We will be vacationing with our good friends Steve and Kayla. We just hope they still want children after traveling with us :) there is a high possibilty there will be some screaming, crying, possibly a blow out (in the diaper) ...you never know! :) we are so excited though to get away from this yucky weather we have lingering around here and enjoy some sun, beach, fun, and of course some Disneyland! You can't go to California without visiting the happiest place on earth. 

We have a lot of plans for places to eat, sights to see, and some much needed relaxation. I have purchased Camden some fun sun hats....because lets face it, us Huston's are as white as it gets. Our pediatrician could not stress enough how much we need to keep him covered up and what's not covered up needs sunscreen. Trying to pick a sunscreen has been difficult because babies aren't even supposed to use sunscreen until six months...so we got a list of safe chemical free sunscreens to protect his little white skin.

This vacation will sure be an adventure. Even though I am nervous about how Camden will sleep and just the whole idea abour traveling with a baby, I have looked forward to this. After all...he better get used to it because we will be going to Disney every year...wish me luck with the packing!!

Live Without Pretending

Studio 5 here in Utah is doing a segment called "live without pretending". They asked the viewers if they live without pretending online...whether through Facebook, Instagram, blogging, etc.

Here's the picture I posted on their Instagram...

Anyone who tells you there aren't hard days when raising a baby is lying to you :) We've had a few lately...and when i say a few i mean every single night about an hour before bedtime. Hard to admit, but there have been some nights that while i'm feeding Camden after one of his screaming and fussy fits, I just rock him and cry myself. It's hard when your baby is crying and you don't know what's wrong. It can be exhausting and you really test your patience...at least mine. Who knows...maybe I'm the only mom that struggles with that.  

The other night before putting Camden down for the night he cried for 30 minutes straight. He was over tired...which was our fault. We kept him up later than usual. I could tell I was starting to get frustrated as I changed his diaper and got him into his pajamas. While feeding him I opened up an email from a friend. It had video of a little girl just one year old who has cancer. Her family lives here in Sandy. As I watched this video of her journey I got brought back down to reality. It was just what I needed. I looked down at Camden sleeping so peacefully and felt so blessed. Blessed for his health, blessed to be his mom, blessed to comfort him and take care of him even in the rough times...yes I even felt blessed for his screaming and crying! Because after the screams and cries comes the cuddles.

 I know I'm not the perfect mom...I'm learning...learning to have more patience, to believe in myself, and believe I got this. I'm learning to not get down on myself so much...after all heavenly father trusts me with this baby boy...so I owe it to him to be the best I can be. 

Things in life aren't always perfect, but I believe my life is pretty darn close because I've got everything I need...and that's most important :) here's to living without pretending!

Camden's Baby Book

This is the first of MANY books about Camden. I hope to make one of these for all our children. It is so fun to go back now and read about my experience with his pregnancy. I am SO glad I kept up on my updates every week...even though some weeks I really had no motivation.

I made this book from Heritage Makers. Our book is also made from this company. I am a huge fan! They are a little bit more expensive then companies like Shutterfly, but you get the cutest art if you purchase the premier package...you won't regret it!

Enjoy

Camden { 1-2 } Months Old

My baby boy is two months old!!! Time please stop...he is growing so much and literally changes every single day. Month {2} has been a lot of fun as we continue to get to know our little boy more and as he continues to grow and interact with us. 

We had his {2} month wellness appointment today...HE IS A TANK! Camden is weighing in at 12 lbs. 13.5oz and is 24 inches long! He is falling in the 89%tile for his length and the 70%tile for his weight. He's a big baby, but the doctor said he is healthy and looks great. We love our little chunk!

 (Before his shots and after we got home)

At {2} months, Camden...

*opened his first pair of Christmas Eve Pajamas and had his very first Christmas

 

*loves to put his hands in his mouth

* is sleeping through the night! He usually goes down at about 10:30, wakes up at 5:00 to be fed, and goes back down for another 2-3 hours.

* is starting to notice more colors and objects. He enjoys playing on his activity mat, but not for too long :) he gets bored. I'm sure this will change over time. 

* is fitting snug into his size 1 diapers...no more newborns that's for sure!

* is growing out of his 0-3 month clothes because he is so long. He has started to wear his 3-6 month clothes

* has started to smile and coo a lot

* had his first blowout! That's pretty good for a {2} month old. The best part was it happened while my parents were watching him. Thank you pampers for providing great support :) (this picture was taken after the blowout incident)

 

 

*eats like a champ! As you can tell from his weight :) This kid downs 4oz every 2.5-3 hours. 

* is still trying to decide if he likes to ride in the car. 

*does not like to be put in his car seat

*had play dates with both his grandmas and grandpas so mom and dad could go on a date

* can roll himself over when he is having tummy time

*has the most beautiful big blue eyes

* his hair is becoming more and more strawberry blonde everyday (just likes his dad)  

* he celebrated his blessing day on January 6th. 

*doesn't like when I put baby lotion on him

* can hold his head up 

* loves his stuffed animals...especially Kanga and Roo. During tummy time he has conversations with them :) 

Camden, we can't believe how big you are getting. I wish time would stop, or at least slow down so I could enjoy these little moments with you a little longer. I love to see you grow, but I already miss the newborn stage. Even though you are starting to move a lot and want to constantly kick your legs and wave your arms, I cherish our cuddle times when you are asleep in my arms and I can just stare at you. 

Your smile melts my heart, especially when we leave you with grandma and grandpa for a couple of hours and when you hear our voices you let out the biggest grin. You truly are such a blessing in our life. We have grown a lot together over the last two months and you have really taught us a lot. We are still adjusting to life and I am sure we will continue to do that with each stage of your childhood. It's exciting to wonder what changes we will see in you next. Mommy and daddy love you so much! And Charlie too! If he had his way he would lick you all day long. :)

Life is busy

I'm enjoying every second with my little man...therefore I am behind on blogging :) somethings gotta give!

Camden has his two month appointment tomorrow, so I am hoping to blog about his two month milestones after that. Any guesses on how much he'll weigh? I'm going to guess between 13-14 lbs. THAT'S A BIG BABY :)

So, until I catch up on blogging here are a few pictures...

What's Mine is Yours...

Click the link below...This song is beautiful! I honestly can't keep the tears from rolling everytime I hear it. I wanted to share it and hope that it will touch at least one person out there that reads my blog :)

Now I must go snuggle my baby boy and thank my heavenly father for all his cuteness, screaming fits, poopy diapers, little smiles,  tiny hands, and for the fact I get to love him and have him forever.

ENJOY...

Watch "Katherine Nelson - "What's Mine is Yours" (Music Video)" on YouTube

A Special Day...

Today we celebrated Camden's blessing. He was so good at church despite our lack of sleep last night. I knew it would be a good day when I over heard him babbling to himself in his crib this morning while I was getting ready. Usually when Camden wakes up he is hungry and that usually entails some screaming until we go pick him up. He must have known today was special and that he would be getting a blessing from his father :) 

We made our way to the church with Camden in his adorable white cable knit one piece. Our family started to pour into sacrament to support our sweet baby boy on him special day.

John gave him a name and a blessing.. a very beautiful blessing. He talk a lot about Camden teaching and caring for his friends and family. He blessed him with the strength to be strong in the gospel and to raise up his siblings, to serve a full time mission, and to marry in the temple to a worthy choice daughter of our Heavenly Father.  He told Camden how much his family and father in heaven love him and desire he have hapiness and blessings in his life. He told him how much joy he has brought to our family and the hardships we had to endure to get him here. It was beautiful and Camden did great.. no crying just the hiccups :) 

After sacrament we headed over to Brandon and Jessica's to have a luncheon and give all of our family a chance to hold and oodle over Camden. We can't thank our family enough for the love and support they continuely show us. 

This is my favorite picture of the day. My grandpa Roberts will be ninety years old on the 22nd. We don't know how much longer he will be with us. I am glad grandpa got to meet him :) He knows we have waited a long time for this and would always ask, when is that baby going to come? The whole day he couldn't remember Camden's name, but can you blame him?! He's almost 90 and has 74 grand children and great grand children! We're so blessed to still have grandpa Roberts with us and look forward to celebrating his 90th birthday in a couple of weeks. 

My side of the family that came...

John's side of the family...

Being the center of attention all day can be pretty exhausting...Camden slept almost the entire time during his luncheon and enjoyed being passed around to everyone. We were even lucky enough to sneak in a nap when we got home...including me, John, and Charlie.

I love my little family. I'm so glad i get to be with them forever.

How did I get so blessed...

I tell you...this is the cutest baby on earth!  I know I am a little bias, but I think everyone would agree that he's pretty darn cute.

Today is one of those emotional days...the kind where you really reflect on all that God has given you. Oh my gosh my life is perfect just the way it is!

Today, Camden and I met my mom for lunch at our favorite place...The Cheesecake Factory. We had been suffering from cabin fever and both desperately needed to get out of the house. So I bundled up the babe and we headed out the door. While we were packing up from lunch and getting ready to head back home, Camden...with his aborable fur hat and his big blue eyes cracked the biggest smile at my mom and I. My heart melted! Literally I about died. He has given little sneak previews of his grin, but this was different.

The entire drive home I thought about him and how happy he makes me. Sure sometimes I am at wits end and really just want to throw in the towel, but honestly I have no idea what I ever did without him here. He has taught me patience...and still is every day. He has made me a better person. He has made me a mom...something I am so thankful for. There are days I still wonder how we created such a beautiful little boy.

I love you Camden John. Don't you ever forget that! !

2012- a Year to Remember

Wow...another year has come and gone! I was reading one of my posts from a year ago and got exremely emotional about it. Our little family has been more blessed this year...more than we can comprehend.

Last year around this time I was ready to jump feet first into 2012 and say goodbye to 2011 for many reasons. We had been going through a ton emotionally and physically to get pregnant. A new year meant new goals and a fresh new start...and that's exactly what we were given in 2012.

We are looking forward to what 2013 has in store for us! A new home, watching our baby boy grow and hit milestones, perhaps a family vacation... we shall see :) here's to another great year!

Here's a little recap of my favorites from 2012...

Christmas 2012

Christmas Eve was on a Monday this year, so it made for an extra long weekend for all the Christmas celebrations! We loved having John home with us as well so we could spend more time as a family. 

Our Christmas Eve was spent with the Huston's this year. We did things a little different this year and decided to do our gift exchange while dinner was cooking. We were spoiled of course and so was Camden. It's hard to get a baby gifts when they were just born and really he has everything he needs, so we asked for a bumbo for when he gets a little older :) I give it another couple of weeks and he'll be using it.

After the gift giving we enjoyed the feast! Ham, cheesy potatoes, salad...There is always so much food around the holidays...so much for losing the baby weight!

 The rest of the night was spent visiting and talking (mostly the ladies) while the boys played video games. Since this was Josh's first year back for Christmas since the mission, we took pictures in our Russian fur hats. Camden even got a cute hat from Uncle Josh to match the family! Then it was time to make it home before Santa would arrive...we definitely had ourselves a white Christmas! This Christmas Eve we got over six inches of snow. It made the drive home horrible, but sure made for a beautiful Christmas Eve and Christmas day! 

  

On Christmas Eve, after we got home from our snowy drive, we got Camden ready for bed so Santa could come. He slept for all of two hours and was up ready to play! We say its because he was so excited for Santa, but really it was totally our fault. He slept for five hours straight at grandma and grandpa Huston's and just wasn't tired anymore. ..so we paid for it! We were pretty much up the rest of the night, but at least with a happy baby.

Christmas morning my parents came over for breakfast. Since we slept In from our lack of sleep the night before, my parents watched us open our gifts. I got the cutest gift from John and Camden...a beautiful necklace from Tiffany's. On one side it says mom and on the other it has Camden's initials. I think its safe to say that Camden was definitely the best Gift this year! 

The rest of our Christmas was spent taking naps...mostly for Camden :), visiting extended family, showing off our adorable baby boy, and eating more food at the Huston's. Our Christmas this year was great on so many levels. It is everything and more than what i could have imagined with our baby boy. We can't wait for many fun and memorable Christmas seasons to come. Until next year...

The Weekend Before Christmas...

I love this time of the year...I always have, but this year is a little more special for our family. I bet you can guess why :) I have dreamed about what the holidays would be like with our children for a long time, so to finally have Baby Camden here to celebrate with us, makes this year that much better!

The days leading up to Christmas are always so much fun! We usually have my family Christmas party and if we have procrastinated at all...usually some last minute shopping. This year I am happy to say that even with having a newborn, we managed to get all our Christmas shopping done early. I still love going to the mall though...I am a sucker for mall crowds around Christmas time. am I weird or what?! 

This weekend before Christmas (and Christmas Eve) was full of lots of food, friends, family time, and gift giving. Friday we headed down to Steve and Kayla's place for homemade pizza and a little bit of gift exchanging. Camden was able to finally fit in some of his "real" clothes...that's what I call the non-pajama/lounging clothes. We have so much fun with Steve and Kayla and love hanging out with them. They live downtown right in the middle of all the Christmas Festivities, so you bet we took advantage of going to City Creek, looking at the Christmas lights, and enjoying all the madness of shoppers. 

 

Saturday, we slept in because baby boy slept from 12:30am-6:30am, got up for a feeding and went back to sleep until 9:00am! We were happy :) Later that afternoon we got ready and headed to my parents for our Horton/Ashcroft Annual Christmas Party. My mom and I finished up the last little bit of cooking, while Grandpa held Baby Camden. 

 

We had a delicious ham along with a lot of other goodies, my mom read our annual Christmas story, and then we all exchanged our gifts. I look forward to this night every year. I love spending time with my family. 

Camden got spoiled, as always, with a lot of gifts and a lot of love :) He also received his first Christmas Ornament. He actually got two...a mini snow globe that lights up and a rocking horse.

Our Sunday has been great thus far...we stayed in our comfy's and have been lazy watching Christmas movies. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and our Huston family Christmas party. 

Merry Christmas Everyone! May we all remember the real reason for this season and remember to count all our many blessing. I know I will :)

Camden { 0-1 } month old

 Guess who is one month old...

 

 Time is flying by...and I'm not sure I like it very much! I had to pack away a few of Camden's outfits this week because he is growing so much. It amazes me how much he can change in just one short month. 

I'm not going to sugar coat it and say that having a newborn is easy :) We have had ourselves quite the four weeks. It's been a challenge, but we are slowly learning what Camden likes and dislikes. Even though some nights we have wanted to sell him to the zoo (totally kidding), our life has been so blessed because of him. I honestly can't remember life before. We love waking up to this sweet boy everyday and can't wait for all the fun milestones we will meet with him. 

At one month, Camden...

 *Celebrated his first Thanksgiving
 

*Loves his baths. He didn't like these much at first, but after about two weeks it has become part of our nightly routine.
 *Loves his swing. He also didn't love this at first until one day I put him in it and the next thing I knew he was out like a light.
 *Not much of a Binky baby. He will keep it in for a little bit, but doesn't need it to fall asleep at night.
*Has been sleeping in his crib since about 3 weeks. We all sleep better at night :)
*Doesn't like to be swaddled at night because he likes to have his arms out.
 
 
*LOVES to be naked (with a diaper on of course)


*Hates to have a wet diaper, but also hates to be changed.
*Got newborn pictures (at one week old)
*Eyes are open more often. He has become more alert to lights and faces.
*Sleeps about 4 hours at a time during the night, so we usually only have to get up once during the night. This makes momma happy!
*Doesn't fit in newborn clothes anymore. We had to pack his first outfit away and it broke my heart :(

*Switched to size one diapers. He can still fit in newborn size, but they are getting a little too snug.
*Doesn't really love car rides
*Eats A LOT... He eats about 4oz- 5oz every three hours. He is starting to get lots of rolls on his cute little body and has the cutest double chin.

We have been having a great time together and look forward to when dad gets home from work so we can spend time together as a family. We love this handsome boy...especially his cute cute lips! Happy "one month" baby boy. We sure do love you!