Pictures for my non-Facebook friends!

I finally decided which photos I liked of Cameron's newborn pictures! Here were some of our favorites:

These were taken at April Finch Photography. I would highly recommend her! She was wonderful to work with!!

The Happenings...

I cannot believe that on Monday it will be 6 weeks since I had Cameron! First of all, I'm giving myself a big pat on the back that I am still alive. I am definitely living on less sleep, but I'm making it....and I'm happy! I have to thank Wes for making this happen for me! He has been so mindful of how he can help me and lately when I say "help!" he is right there. Now that's a good man for you. I am just humbled and in awe of him some times. He works all day and then comes home and devotes himself to his family. And he doesn't complain. I am just so blessed!

Cameron is still a great baby. He sleeps most of the time still which is wonderful! It allows me to still get things done and be a mom to the other boys that need me. I was reminded yesterday of how important it is to make your kids feel important. The first few weeks, I felt like I had gone from being the boys' mom to being a drill seargant! Get in the car, get your shoes on, don't hit your brother, stop putting the whole roll of toilet paper in the toilet! You name it, I was yelling it! But I didn't like hearing it from myself and the more I yelled, the less they responded. In the future I'm going to try and be more mindful of how I can give expectations to them without coming off like a crazy person. I want my kids to respect me so I need to act respectable!

Preston and Owen are loving having a little brother. I have seen no jealousy come from either one of them which was kind of surprising. I think they are too busy annoying each other. :) Wes and I are ready to sign Owen up for karate so he can channel his hitting to a good cause. It's not uncommon for me to walk into a room and see Owen on Preston's back just wailing on him. Most of the time Preston is laughing because I guess it doesn't hurt that much! It's just funny to me how one kid can be so physical (Owen) and one kid is not (Preston). I am forever learning about this creature called "boy." So much more complex than what I would have thought!! They can go from beating each other to playing like ole pals in 2 minutes flat. Lindsay and I probably wouldn't speak for the rest of the day if we got in the kind of fights these kids get into! Craziness!!

Well, I hope that everyone is doing well! I know I have some readers (just saying that makes me laugh) who are anticipating the arrival of babies!! I am so excited for you guys!! Hang in there. I know both of you are over your due dates and not happy campers. In a few weeks, you will forget all of the uncomfortableness and just be able to enjoy your little ones!

Owen's Second Birthday

Here's some pics from Owen's first birthday party. Sorry Facebook friends, these are repeats! I don't have time to write anything witty after each picture so just pretend that I said something hillarious about each one. Thanks.

Still Learning....

Well, the party is over. My mom officially left the building on Sunday so I have been on my own since then (at least during the day!). I would by lying to you if I told you things were going great! We are surviving, I'll just say that. I am having a really hard time getting used to how long things are taking! I had a playgroup yesterday that I started getting ready for at 7:30am and we ended up being 30 minutes late after it took 2 1/2 hours to get ready!! YIKES!! It makes me laugh thinking about how when it was just me getting ready for work, I would set the alarm and give myself about 20 minutes to get ready for work and I was out the door!

NO MORE! It's a huge production to do anything these days. But I'm not complaining...just venting....there's a difference.....right?? Right?? The boys also love throwing a wrench in things like this morning. Owen woke up at 5:30 crying so I figured in order to keep him from waking up Preston, he could come and sleep in our room. Well, Preston ended up following and so at 5:30am we had every person in the house crammed in our room. Needless to say, there was no sleeping going on. And guess who's sleeping now? OWEN!! The one who started it all is now snoring as if to taunt me. IN MY BED!! yeah, I get a little bent out of shape when I don't get enough sleep. Cameron is waking up every 3-4 hours a night to eat as well.

Before Cam was born, Wes told me he was going to have to go on a business trip to TX again like he normally has to about once a year. Thankfully, he has decided he's going to drive down to Memphis and drop us all off for the week and then go on from there to TX. What a man! And he's saving his company a lot of money by driving instead of flying as well. So, I won't have to try and do this all on my own. So, the last week in March, we will hopefully be enjoying warmer weather in Memphis instead of cold weather in IN.

Good things that have happened as well. I have really felt a lot of support from my friends. So many people have offered to bring meals or offered to watch the kids for me so I can have a break. It just feels so good to be able to say that Noblesville is our home and we have a lot of people here who care for us! They will never know how much their support means to us! I haven't had to cook in FOREVER!! Woohoo! We also celebrated Owen's 2nd birthday. I hope to get pictures up today or tommorow because he was having a good ole time!

Thanks for following my blog. I promise this won't become a complainer blog but I wanted to update everyone on the transition from 2 kids to a bazillion kids. ;) I know each day I will get better and better at handling more than I'm used to. Love to you all!

Cameron's Newborn Pictures

We recently got Cameron's pictures taken along with a few family pictures. If you want to get a sneak peek at the proofs from the session:

Go to http://www.aprilfinchphotography.com/index2.php
Click on Proofing
Down in the right hand corner is a box to enter a password: CameronNB (case sensitive)
Click on the picture of the head and that's Cameron's proofs.

Let me know which ones you like in the comment section!! I am having a hard time choosing. I have to pick 15 shots.

Happy 2nd Birthday Owen!

Sometimes when you go through a difficult phase with a child, you feel like it will never end. That was our year with our beloved Owen. It was like the year that seemed like it was one thing after another that the boy would throw at us.

Let's recap:

Didn't crawl until 12 months.

Didn't walk until 17 1/2 months

Screamed for months

Wouldn't repeat words we said to him. He would just stare at us.

Wouldn't put anything in his mouth to eat until he inspected it thoroughly.

Woke up multiple times a night screaming for no reason.

Many of you told me that most of what I was dealing with was a phase. Man, I hate to tell you but you all were right!! He is now a walking, talking toddler. He is still a picky eater but his screaming has almost completely stopped! You can't even imagine how wonderful this has been for us. We can now go places instead of staying in our house or car afraid that he will disturb everyone around him. He must have realized that talking was a lot easier than screaming.

Another wonderful development this year has been his personality. If you are around him for any amount of time, he will charm the pants off of you. When my grandpa came to visit, he just sat right next to him like they had known each other for about 80 years and just looked at picture books together. He has this infectious smile and dimples that just melt your heart. He also loves cheesing for the camera. My friend Aggie was taking pictures and he ran up and just totally posed for her; cheesy grin and all. He also loves to dance. He comes into our room and points at the radio and says "dance!" and so we turn it on and he just runs around like a crazy man. I am so glad that he has become the person he is today! We have had so much fun with him in the last few months. It really makes the whole last year seem like a distant memory.

So, to my little man Owen, we love you so much! You have a beautiful free spirit and we can't wait to see where you fly! You have been more than we have ever dreamed you would be! You continue to surprise us and entertain us. Don't ever change!!

Some New Pics

I figure that for awhile, I'm not going to have a lot of time for any real blogging. I think I'm going to be lucky just having time to post a few pictures to keep you all updated! Things are going well around here. Cameron is growing like a weed. He was born weighing 7lb 5 oz and at his 2 week appt, he was 7lb 11oz. He's still a bitty baby but I like them that way! Easier to carry around in the beginning! I am doing good but I do get tired around 1 or 2pm just like the kiddos. Thankfully, they have been taking pretty good naps so I am able to sneak in a nap as well.

We have been blessed with a lot of great people in our lives who have been helping us by providing meals or taking the boys for me for a while so that has been wonderful as well! My mom is also here and let me tell you! I would have never survived without her! She has kept the ship running smoothly.

Here are some pictures of the boys because I know you didn't come here to see pictures of me!! :)



I took this yesterday before church. He was in his first little outfit. When it's your third, I guess they wear sleepers until their lazy parents can get their acts together!!

Man, I am tired...I only slept for about 22 hours today!

Am I a big brother now? This must be some sort of joke. Everyone knows I'M THE BABY IN THIS FAMILY!

Oh you know I am the big brother!! I've got the big brotha' swagga'!!