When I tell someone how old Cameron is, I still have a moment of shock that he is three! I know that is not "old", but why does it feel like he is so old now? He is a toddler still, right? One more year and then he is a "preschooler". Or is he already considered a "preschooler"?? Oh man... I am just not sure, it's happening too fast. Those around me all the time may have noticed how obsessed I have become with how cute I think this little guy is. I just can't even stop myself many times from posting a picture of our cuddles or him just being cute. Did I already say how charming he is? He is such a charmer. That little grin and sweet smile with those big teeth. That soft blond hair that sort of curls around his face. Those sweet little hands that will still hold mine every day. He's dreamy y'all... he really is.
Cam tearing into his birthday pizookie!
We had a train themed birthday party for the big boy this year. In the last year he has really gotten in to trains and it was the perfect theme for his celebration. As is common with a 3 year old, there were some tantrum moments the morning of his birthday party, but let me tell you, once he saw the steam train coming down the street to our house he had a smile from ear to ear. I mean it was the BEST DAY OF HIS LIFE kind of happy. If we could have bottled up the happiness he felt and distributed it to guests we would have all felt like we just won the lottery kind of happy.
This was from our photo shoot for his party invitation. :)
Here are lots of pictures from the party!
What is our three year old up to and what does he like??
Cam is still a great sleeper and napper like he has always been. He usually naps every afternoon, but is at a point where missing a nap isn't the end of the world. A few months ago we moved him to a big boy bed and just recently removed the bed rails as he didn't need them.
He loves playing independently and is such a good little kid. He also loves playing with his sister and they regularly are in their own world pretending something crazy. It's funny listening to them interact and the things they say.
Food wise Cameron is a great breakfast eater usually. He is not always a big eater at lunch or dinner and can be a bit picky. He loves chick-fil-a nuggets and waffle fries, sometimes loves hotdogs, loves mac and cheese and really enjoys fruit... oh, and applesauce pouches. He also likes ice cream, which is just like his dad!
He is still not potty trained... I know... I know... he is three. I KNOW! :) I tried twice in the past and will be trying again for the final time in a few weeks. The third time is the charm!! I will not give up this time!
Cameron loves singing now and will sing his ABCs, Happy Birthday, "Rinky-Dink", Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and more. He loves reading books, too. After we read a book to him he wants to read it himself to you right afterwards. His versions of the stories are always enjoyable. :)
He is wearing size 3T, more for the length than the waist size. He is still fairly trim.
At his 3 year well visit he weighed 34 pounds 2 ounces (75%) and was 38.5 inches tall (75%).
Emerson graduated from preschool this May! She has grown so much over the last year and especially over the last several months. She has really gained confidence at her new school and learned so many things. We are so proud of her! We already have her enrolled in the private kindergarten at Bent Tree Child Development Center for a few reasons, the biggest being it is the best place for her to continue to learn and grow in a smaller class size. The other reason is it will be super convenient to have the same drop off for Cameron as he enters the Level 3 preschool room. It is comforting knowing she will be familiar with her environment and I know how great the program is for her development, plus she already has a few friends in class from this year! This will make our transition to first grade a little scary, as that is when she will go to Mitchell Elementary in Plano ISD. But we don't have to worry about that for an entire year! :) Here are some pictures from the last day of school and some videos from the graduation ceremony. We sure do love our precious little girl!
The day before Emerson's last day of preschool we went to see her best friend, Ava, on her last day. These girls are the sweetest of friends.
First and last day of school pictures! They have grown so much!
We have big and exciting news... we are expecting Small Paul #3 this October!
First Trimester- Here we go!
I learned I was pregnant super early, as has always been the case because I just can't imagine waiting to test until after missing your period. Who can wait THAT long??? We were thankful that it happened so quickly following our loss in December. I cried upon seeing the test turn positive and in that moment felt both tremendous happiness but also the instant fear of whether or not this would go differently. I, of course, tried to be calm about it all and tried to maintain a level head realizing that it was so early and that an early loss was very possible. My doctor got me in quickly for blood work so we could monitor the HCG counts over a period of a few days. Those labs came back with promising counts... so far so good. But then again, I've been there before when everything is progressing just like it should. I had some early spotting for a couple of days that alarmed me a bit, but since it stopped the nurse said not to worry. The days between the lab appointments and when I could get in to see if there was a baby starting to grow as hoped were hard emotionally. My thoughts were so consumed, try as I may to think of something else. Thankfully, with every appointment, we saw that the baby was growing as expected and I began trying to tell myself to try to enjoy it and not worry. But that is just so hard. I had several milestones that we passed and with each your chances of successful pregnancy increase. The first one and most significant being the presence of a fetal heart rate, which we confirmed Feb 26 at 6 weeks 5 days. I went again at 8 weeks 3 days... my doctor knew I needed to see things after the 8 week mark, which is when our first miscarriage happened. During this time period my nausea was in full swing... I was feeling pretty awful... all day nausea is just not fun. I was able to take some medicine that helped a little, but made me more sleepy on top of the first trimester exhaustion. At 10 weeks 4 days we saw the baby again, and with this milestone it felt like it was time to share the news with the kids. That was fun as the kids both had different takes on what it meant and what they wanted. After clarifying with the kids, we found that Cameron wanted a baby Santa and Emerson wanted a baby sister. We told them we had to wait to find out. And not long after 12 weeks we announced on social media that we had another blessing on the way! This was really happening! :)
Baby Paul at 6w5d
That beautiful sound of a heart beating... 120 bpm
8w3d
10w4d with heart rate of 167 bpm
When we shared the news with the kids...
Heart rate of 171 bpm
Our 12 week baby moving around. :)
2nd Trimester- It's a...
While I was still having nausea, it was getting to be a little better in the second trimester. I was really looking forward to having more energy and feeling good until I had this terrible pain in my lower back and felt like my stomach was super achey. Not cramping, but it just hurt. I knew something was not right, so after a trip to the ER we found that I was having some gallbladder inflammation. It happened again two weeks later, which led to an appointment with a surgeon and gastroenterologist. In short, if I continued to have gallbladder problems we would need to have surgery in my second trimester, the "safest" time, to remove it. Since that appointment I have been very careful with my diet and have avoided food that has too much richness with flavor, spices, garlic, tomatoes, etc. This really means no pizza, no delicious pasta with marinara and garlic bread, no greasy burgers and fries... but this is ok. I would rather not have surgery!! So far so good and I am now 20 weeks.
We planned Cameron's 3rd birthday party on May 2, so while we had our families with us and friends there, I wanted to do a little surprise gender reveal. My doctor had no problem doing a quick ultrasound himself to determine the gender. I was careful not to look during the ultrasound and my doctor wrote down the gender information and placed it in an envelope for me. Right after my appointment I met with Stefanie to give her the envelope and she got things together for our surprise reveal. She is such a wonderful friend to help put this together for us. It was so wonderful of her to help and after Cam's party I had the greatest time doing the gender reveal. I had no idea what we were having so it was just as much a surprise to me as everyone else. When we opened the box and I saw the pink balloons I almost cried! I really was hoping for another little girl to spoil. :) Emerson is sooooo excited to have a baby sister and regularly mentions that she wants to give her sister a present or toy. She wanted to buy her an outfit the other day when we were shopping. She is going to be the sweetest big sister. :)
My last ultrasound was at 17 weeks for an early anatomy scan where baby girl looked great. I go back in a couple of weeks for my next look and I can't wait! Last Friday I felt her kicking for the first time where I was certain that's what it was and what a relief! Since then I have felt her move many times and each time I just smile and think "Hello baby girl!! Keep growing strong!!" I know the days where I will really feel her strong movements aren't too far away, and for now I can't wait. While I still worry something could happen, the rational side of me knows we should be ok now. Anything can happen, but there is no reason I should expect anything but a healthy pregnancy and delivery. I'm 20 weeks now and feel so happy to be halfway there. I can't wait to meet this little girl and to hug and kiss her everywhere. To hear her cry when she is born, those coos and the sweet baby smell. I can't wait to see big sister Emerson hold her and big brother too. I wonder what they will think and feel once she arrives.
Up next for us will be preparing her nursery, which I already know what I want to do and have ordered bedding. :) We need to share her name with family and friends, because we aren't going to make anyone wait. ;) And I have a whole lot of organizing and decluttering I want to do. This is such an exciting and wonderful time in our lives. I'm so happy... I just can't wait to meet her! :)
The top secret sono picture from the doctor!
Recap photos from our reveal!
Ahhh!! It's a girl!!! :)
19 weeks
Our silly kids... I just laugh and laugh when I watch this! :)
Usually in the Spring I try to take the kids to the Arboretum or to a pretty park where there are lots of tulips, but that just wasn't in the cards this year! Since I was not feeling well, that's my next blog update, I was not at all up to the challenge of going to a park. In addition, we had such a short time span between when the last snow came and when it was already time for Easter! With this being the case, I think it is great that we got this super cute picture with bunnies for Easter this year and we really did have a wonderful Easter weekend with family! The weather held out and we enjoyed an egg hunt outside after a delicious lunch!
Could our kids be any cuter?? I'm just saying...
Messy fingers after dipping the eggs! We are new to this!
We spotted the Easter bunny after the church service!
Cam was not going to participate in the pictures!
Seriously... it's so funny to us...
Emerson was so excited to find the "golden" egg.
I knew I could get a smile out of that kid... it helped to have the bounty of Easter eggs!
Bluebonnets!
Not to sound like a broken record, but again, I usually get more bluebonnet pictures instead of these few, but couldn't get around to it this year. I'm really glad to have gotten these pictures, though. Thanks to my parents and sister for helping! These were taken off the side of the feeder road on Spur 408 near Duncanville. There the bluebonnets blanketed the sides of the highway and it was a really beautiful site. And they were gigantic bluebonnets! Super tall and vibrant. I felt a little bad for squishing so many poor bluebonnets during our photo session... and the kids picked a few! (Gasp!!) It's a tradition though... and you know those are important!! :)
Mother's Day
We had a wonderful weekend celebrating Mother's Day. On the Friday before, the school had Mother's Day Tea and I was able to spend time with Emerson in her class and had some pastries after watching her class sing songs for the mothers. On Saturday we spent time with my family where we also celebrated May birthdays. It was Happy Mother's day to mom and Happy Birthday to my dad, brother and myself. It is a busy month! On Sunday, we went to church where I also got to see my sweet friend, Lindsey, who had her son, Tripp, baptized.
Before I wrap up winter, let me say I can't believe how behind I am with my blog posts again. Keeping up with this is much more challenging than I thought it would be. Life happens and it's harder to stop and take the time to share the details. :)
So such snow!
This winter felt never ending to me! We had several occasions with snow and by the end of February I wanted nothing more than to see the hot sunshine! Our first winter blast came in the typical form of ice, but it was pretty and the kids were excited. Then we had real snow and lots of it blanket everything. It was beautiful. It was fun. It was exciting. But then, it happened some more, even more than expected. Lots of the thick fluffy snow that is not typical for Dallas covered our lawns. While it really looked so pretty and super bright, I realized just how glad I am to live in a typically warmer climate. Perhaps the other factors at play for me this winter (more on that here in a bit) contributed to my grumpy feelings about the snow and cold weather. But I wasn't the only one ready to move on to Spring. I think more Dallas-ites than not were pretty over it. (also, side note- most of these pics are from my Instagram... I have gotten out of the habit of using our real camera and like the ease of the iPhone for pictures!)
Our first "snow" day was really slippery ice!
Then we had real snow!
Meet Olaf!
I love this little video of Emerson and I having a snowball fight. :)
Ice Rink Party!
Emerson also went to her best friend's birthday party at an ice rink. It was her first time as well as Cam's first time on ice skates. Thankfully Daddy was comfortable in his skates to help them both while I stayed in the bleachers with my boot for my broken toe. I had an excuse not to skate, but had that not been the case, our poor kids would still have been much better off with their dad on the ice! :)
On Sunny and Warmer Days...
I may sound a bit dramatic... well, I suppose I am being dramatic when referring to the brutal winter we had this year. To be honest, we did have some really beautiful days sprinkled in between the cold days this winter. And when we did, we made the most of it with fun trips to the park or zoo with friends. Something about the crispness of a "warm" winter day filled with sunshine is so refreshing.
We got the kid's this fun swing set for the backyard as well. It has been so great to have!
Changing Preschools for Emerson & Cameron
I had known and had the thought many times that I would need to find a different preschool than the wonderful Children's Discovery Center in Plano that is part of our church by our old house. It is a 30 minute commute in the mornings with traffic at times and is not a convenient location. After our return from Christmas break I had a conference with Emerson's teachers about her readiness for kinder in the Fall and they shared their observations and what they thought she needed. I prayed and prayed and thought and thought and I knew it was time for us to find a different program for her and and preschool closer to home. I was so excited to learn about the Bent Tree Child Development Center. A full time preschool literally just minutes from the house that had an outstanding curriculum and flexibility with the scheduling. After talking with the center's director, touring the campus, observing the teachers, letting the kids try it out for a day and discussing it with the teachers there, I knew it was the right place to move the kids. While we loved their old school and the teachers there, I knew this preschool would better prepare Emerson academically for kindergarten. And Cameron seemed happy as well being the sweet little kiddo that he is. Telling Emerson and Cameron's teachers our decision to change schools was such a hard thing to do. This also meant Emerson would not be in class with her favorite friend, Ava. With huge tears in my eyes I thanked them for loving our kids and teaching them with their hearts, as I knew they truly loved and cared for them. We all cried and it was a tough good-bye, but still, I knew it was the right decision. It's just not always easy to make those decisions. And then we began our new schedule and routine with our new school. Emerson went from going MWF to Monday-Friday until 1:30. At first she was really sad to miss her old friends, but it wasn't long before she adjusted and enjoyed her new class. She especially came to like Mrs. Ricker, her teacher. What a wonderful lady she is! I so appreciate the extra time Mrs. Ricker spent working with Emerson. And Cameron, bless his heart, seemed ok with the transition until he decided he would rather just be home with me. He was always having a great time when I would pick him up, but dropping off was a different story!
The first day at Bent Tree! Emerson is with Mrs. Ricker and Cam with Ms. Stefanie
On Emerson's last day at her old school I read books to her class... talk about an emotional day!
