Cami's Newborn Photo Shoot...

aka harder than a physical challenge on Double Dare!  Seriously, trying to do a photo shoot with a 10 day old newborn AND a family one on top of that is one the hardest things I've ever done!  First, the photographer was 20 minutes late.  I had been instructed to be feeding the baby or almost done whenever she arrived. I did my part and was done at 10:15...15 minutes after she should have been there.  Anyway, she got there about 5 minutes later and started scouting out locations.  Then she finally decided to set up in Cameron's nursery (like I had suggested at 10:21) and was all ready to go by 11am.  I should also note that Baby Cami had been peacefully sleeping this entire time, but right about 11am, she was done with her slumber.

 

So instead of a precious sleeping newborn inside this purple cocoon, this is what we got.  The photographer said, "oh, she's wide awake now."  Well yeah, she's been ASLEEP for the past hour when you should have been taking her picture!!

Pretty girl, but the whole set-up for this part was a bust.  So we moved on to the family time downstairs.  Oh, but wait.  Nothing can be that easy.  By now, our 3 year old had decided that she no longer wanted to take any pictures.  She was very happily watching cartoons upstairs and flat out refused to come downstairs.  Sigh.  After much pleading, begging, threatening, etc., I got her to see it my way.  Ah, but it's a very delicate balance, because heaven for bid I be too stern and make her cry.  Then the pictures would be even further delayed!  Thank goodness I was able to avoid said catastrophe.

And we got our family of 5 picture!

Sweet baby girl was getting tired...

but she stayed pretty happy for this part.

This one might just be my favorite.  Baby Cami and her fanclub.

Even though she's our third, we are as in awe of her as we were of our other two.

Daddy loves his littlest girl.

And I just can't get enough snuggles with her either.

Big brother got his turn with the baby...

love it.

My babies!

So precious.

A very proud big sister...

"Hi Mommy!"

Since Cami was still awake, we did a few pics in her crib. 

I just had to get some of her in the embroidered outfit that she wore home from the hospital.

The pink tutu didn't turn out so well because she peed in the middle of it and soaked the bed...hence the white blanket!  And she wasn't done with that business yet!  It had now been about 2 1/2 hrs and she still wasn't asleep, so I fed her again, hoping that would work.  It didn't, so then we just had a VERY full, but alert baby on our hands.  After another half hour she finally went to sleep.  I handed her to the photographer and she very slowly slid off her diaper.  And no more than 4 seconds later Cameron started pooping everywhere!  Since we had worked so hard to get her to sleep, we couldn't make a sound, so I was dashing around the room frantically grabbing towels and wipes to clean up the mess.  Then she started peeing!  Then more poop!  And the funniest part is that she never woke up.  Here are the results.

Four hours into the day, we finally got some great shots!  I love them.

Praise Jesus!

Murphy Mavericks

The Murphy Mavericks had an AMAZING season this year!

They won every game except for one and pretty much dominated the league, often winning by 20 or 30 points.  They rocked!

A little height never hurts in basketball, either.  Check out how tall these kids are--Jackson was only the 4th or 5th tallest!

They scored plenty on offense...

and all played great on defense, too.  Check out the mad defense by Gage.  The kid's got some hops!

Mavs won 40 - 6 their last game.  Nothing like going out with a bang.  Congrats, boys!

BFF

This little girl could not have a better best friend.

And if she were not so busy napping and eating during the day, we could do more photo shoots!



Seriously, though, they are just TOO cute together.  Lila still thinks Cami is the neatest thing EVER, even when she hollers in her face and doesn't want to be held.  You're a very lucky little sister, Miss Cameron.

When did she get so big?!  I guess she is almost 4.  Thank goodness I have a new baby to snuggle with or I might be getting very sad right about now:)

What's up, Doc?

The whole fam went to see Dr. Betty for Jackson's check-up.  Both girls were asleep when we got there, bringing the difficulty level up a notch, but we managed!  Thank goodness Jackson is such a big helper.  He pushed Cami in the stroller so that I could carry Lila inside.   I felt like I was in an event at the Parenting Olympics!

7 Year Stats:
56 lbs. (75%) See, mom, he's not THAT skinny!
51 1/2 inches tall (95%), which projects him to be 6 ft. 2 in.
Blood Pressure: 105/56
Perfect Hearing and Vision

Happy 7th Birthday, Jackson!

How, how, how can it be that a 7 year old is now living with me?!



This little daredevil turned 7 on Monday and got to celebrate with a day off of school. 
Thank you, President's Day!  He got to pick out a new fourwheeling helmet with Gigi and then went to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather with Madison.

While the big kids were at the park, the little girls stayed home and napped, which meant I got to bake the strawberry cake for the birthday boy.  We met daddy at Gloria's for dinner and then came home for cake and presents.

Cammie was struggling around cake time, but she stopped hollering during the birthday song! 

He got a few movies from his sister and liked those, but he REALLY liked his gift from us. 
A new Xbox 360! 

He can't wait to play his dad in Madden NFL 25!  And I think his daddy is pretty excited about it, too:)

Looks like everyone likes his new presents.  Gotta love this girl.

February Favorites

Date night!

February 15, 2014 - First Date Night since Cameron was born.  It was glorious.

 

I really can't remember when our last solo date was, but I know that NYE was the last time we went out!  Needless to say, it's been a while!  We had such a nice time just getting to enjoy each other's company.  Then we got a little bonus from the baby when we got home.  She had just finished her bottle from Gigi and went to sleep pretty soon thereafter, around 10:30.  She didn't wake up the next time until 4:00, so we got some MUCH needed sleep!  Thanks, baby girl!

My little multi-tasker. 
Holding the baby while eating a waffle and watching The Bachelor. 
It's our girl time every week.  She tells me which girls are pretty and which ones are crazy.  I do have to fast forward if it gets a little racy, but it's fun to watch.  She even wore her pearls for it!Cracks me up.

Good friends. 
Gage, Caleb and Jackson going bananas on the bus!  They got to go on their first field trip this year to the Outdoor Learning Center.  I had to miss it, but Sandy sent me some pics.  I love that he's got such good buddies at school. 

Pretty murals. 
After much discussion and thought, Lila's room finally got painted!  And we love, love, love it.  She chose a country theme, complete with two horses, some cows, chickens, ducks and a rabbit. 

I am beyond thrilled with Rod's work and she couldn't be happier about it.  Now, if we could just get her to spend more time in there at night, we'd really be making progress!

 The Moby Wrap. 
Best baby invention in the past 10 years.  Seriously, folks.  I've heard about this, I just never tried it.  It works wonders--as in, very fussy baby at night when you're trying to make dinner?  No problem.  Just put the baby in the moby wrap and they'll calm down right away!  It's working like a charm for us and just might help me keep my sanity every evening.  I could do an infomercial for Moby Wrap, I love it so much.

 

 

The Sleep Sack.
They put her in this at the hospital and she has loved sleeping in it ever since.  And she's been sleeping on her back, too!  That's something that neither of her siblings ever liked to do past about 2 weeks of age.  Thank you, Sleep Sack.  I love you.  And when she outgrows it next month, we are moving on to the Miracle Blanket, which I've also heard great things about.



Show and tell.
J man got to show off his littlest sister at school yesterday.  He was grinning from ear to ear. 
We delivered 2 dozen donuts for his birthday celebration.

 

 

Good daddo!
As if that weren't cool enough, his daddy signed up to be the WatchDOG Dad yesterday, too. 
So fun!  They got to eat lunch together and go to recess together, too.  I am so thankful that Jared took off work to do this for Jackson.  I know it meant a lot to Jackson.  Such a great dad! 
My favorite, in fact.

Birthday Bowling at Main Event

We had Jackson's birthday party at Main Event this year.  He was all about it--bowling, pizza, cake and the arcade.  Come to think of it, what kid wouldn't be?!

We started off with bowling.  Maddie and Lila were just a little outnumbered:)

Team #1: Caleb, Cole, Ethan, Matthew and Jackson

Team #2: Madison, Lila, Corbin, Tucker and Brody

Team #3: Ian, Caden, Garrison, Ryder and Aidan

Everyone bowled well and Lila even got a strike!  (With a little help from the ramp)

Baby sister slept the whole time the kids were bowling, but she still looked cute as a button:)

After all that crazy fun bowling, the boys worked up an appetite.  Pizza all around!

Then we sang Happy Birthday to my favorite (almost) 7 year old.

And then Corbin put out on of the candles WITH HIS FINGER.  This kid is a little wheels off!

He gets big laughs, though.

Five of the Hays crew was there to celebrate with us, as were Gigi and Boom, but my camera time was limited because Miss Cammie woke up, needed to be changed and was hungry. 

While I was feeding Cameron, Julie got some action shots for me of the boys in the arcade.  It's nice to have good friends!

Looks like everyone had a great time...

I know that this kid did.

He was feeling so big that he challenged his daddy to a game of air hockey.

Before you knew it, the party was over. 

The kids got to pick out some prizes with the points they'd earned playing games and then it was time to head home.  When I buckled Lila into her carseat she told me, "it's a great day for a nap."  Then she promptly closed her eyes and was out like a light!  Guess it was a big day for little sister, too.

 

When we got home Jackson couldn't wait to open all of his gifts.  He got so many great things, from a neon basketball to a bow and arrow to lots of cool clothes.  Thanks, friends, for helping our son have such a fantastic birthday!